DC Debate: With BJP’s clear mandate, the coalition era in India is over

DC Debate: R. Balashankar Vs Rajesh Dixit

R. Balashankar: People just want good governance

The 2014 general election has turned many political assumptions on its head. For long it was believed that the national election is nothing but the aggregate of 31 state elections. With the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as a pan-India party and scoring an absolute majority on its own, this postulation has become irrelevant.

The present nature of Indian polity, however, is different from what it used to be under the Congress till the 1970s, with single-party brute majorities. More than the single- party majority what really changed the Indian political scene is the decimation of all those parties that directly or indirectly got associated with the Congress. It marked the final rejection by the voter of the artificial divide in the name of secular and communal. In 26 states the BJP and its allies have secured seats in the Lok Sabha whereas the Congress has failed to open its account in 10 states. The Congress has not won double digits in any state in the country and it cannot claim the position of main Opposition though it made tall claims of fighting the election to protect the country’s secular fabric.

Three parties, which supported the Congress, the National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Bahujan Samaj Party failed to open their account in the Lok Sabha. And the biggest myth that exploded in this election is the hypothesis that only those parties which get a substantial Muslim votes can win sufficient seats to rule India. At the same time, parties which were seen as positively inclined towards the BJP, even if they were not part of the National Democratic Alliance gained. In this there is a message from the electorate. India has moved on and the time has come for a shift in the style and substance of the political discourse.

Voters need a new idiom removed from the routine secular versus communal. The single-party majority notwithstanding, the BJP has expressed its desire to work with all parties willing to cooperate with the NDA. It is not averse to even taking more parties into the NDA fold. A new era of cooperation based on development and governance agenda is in the offing. Indian electorate has become aspirational.

The coalition era in India began with the 1989 election when the Congress failed to get a majority and the Janata Dal under V.P. Singh formed a coalition with outside support from the BJP and the Left. From 1991 to 1995 P.V. Narasimha Rao led a single-party government though it was in minority. In fact, the coalition phase in India is only two decade long. People want stability and single-party majority is the best guarantee for a stable and efficient government at the Centre.

Dr R. Balashankar is national convenor of the BJP Intellectual Cell

Rajesh Dixit: Coalition is not a liability

We should not arrive at the conclusion that the era of coalition politics is over on the basis of one verdict. Those with short-term memory need to be reminded of the massive verdict that the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received in 1984. Even then a three-fourth majority to a single political party could not ensure stability at the Centre and soon the nation witnessed the era of coalition politics.

India — being a nation of diversity by its very nature — gives regional parties enormous scope to represent the aspirations of the people, which do not find voice in a national political party. And even in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll verdict, regional parties have not perished. In fact, the verdict has been a mixed bag for regional parties.

In West Bengal, the Trinamul Congress has won 34 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats. In south, the J. Jayalalithaa-led All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has won 37 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. In Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal has won 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats. These parties have kept the flags of regional parties high.

Even the Bharatiya Janata Party has barely been able to get the simple majority by bagging 282 Lok Sabha seats. And the National Democratic Alliance, which is coming to power at the Centre, in itself is an alliance of 25 political parties. Among the NDA allies, the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal continue to be strong in Maharashtra and Punjab respectively. Therefore, it’s quite evident that it’s too early to write an obituary of coalition era.

But the 2014 Lok Sabha verdict is a challenge to a number of political parties. The Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh, despite holding its vote share has been able to win just five out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. Though this is disappointing for the party, the SP is aware of the challenges ahead.

However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the manner in which the BJP has been able to get 282 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign has been at a scale, which has not been seen in the electoral history of India. And the manner in which the media has campaigned for a political party is surely a matter of concern.

The era of coalition politics should not be seen as some sort of a liability. Rather, the era of coalition politics during which even BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee became Prime Minister for about six years presents an in-built system of checks and balances to the ruling party. And it should not be forgotten that the arrogance of a majority party is bad for democracy. That arrogance of majority had delivered mortal blow to the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government in 1984, which became weak in just three years’ time. And the BJP should also be wary of the fact that a majoritarian government may not necessarily be a popular one.

Rajesh Dixit is the national secretary of the Samajwadi Party