dir="ltr">One of the important features of Indian polity since 1996 is the rise of coalition culture at the union level. After decades of single-party dominance, we are now getting used to coalition governments. Happily, coalition governments have proved to be stable and conducive to economic growth. This experience forced Congress to forge pre-electoral alliances just as BJP did in 1998. Clearly, in the foreseeable future we will have coalition governments at the national level. This is a welcome development, as only a coalition will reflect India’s diversity.

Here is a quiz question: What is common between eating pani puri-chaat and choosing a politician?  The answer: We may get a lot of choice but we actually get very little variety.  We can choose to eat from any one of those dozens of pani puri-chaat centers across the city.