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Video editor: Mohd Ibrahim and Purnendu Pritam
Video producer: Anubhav Mishra
Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya
It’s 2019, Happy New Year! General elections are a hundred days away and here are 5 political myths that you need to be aware, in fact, beware of!
Brace yourself for one stunning fact that is never quite spoken about. Since 1999, almost each and every government in India, whether at the Centre or in the states, whether ruled by a single party or a diverse coalition has completed its full tenure.
But we should not read anything unusual in these natural trends as our democracy ripened and took deeper roots:
This was bound to happen. It is a healthy assertion by social coalitions in such a spectacularly diverse country.
Frankly, our mixed/welfare economy with a rising share of private enterprises is the doctrine that all political parties have signed up for. While the Congress has displayed its liberal credentials over 15 years of the Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh tenures, the BJP has done the same under the decade of Vajpayee and Modi.
I would actually argue that Modi has been the most interventionist among this quartet, believing in a bigger state, nationalised institutions and price controls. In fact, some of the regional chieftains from HD Deve Gowda and Chandrababu Naidu to Naveen Patnaik, to name just a few have been a tad more aggressive about economic reforms.
The minute a Mayawati or Mamata Banerjee even mildly criticises the Congress or Rahul Gandhi “godi” (or lapdog) TV channels put out explosive headlines about “Maya dumps Mahagathbandhan” “Flawed Mahagathbandhan” etc, etc. But as against this propaganda, just look at the facts:
Now allow me to argue that it makes tactical sense for the Congress not to have a Mahagathbandhan in UP or West Bengal or Odisha.
Since the Congress’ core vote banks overlap with the BJP’s (example, Brahmins and Thakurs in UP) a strategically placed Congress candidate who would not divide the Muslims or Dalits but cut into Brahmin and Thakur votes could actually damage the BJP, giving the advantage to potential Congress allies like Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee.
So instead of being a “failure,” this may actually be a clever tactical ploy to weaken Modi.
Relax, this one is unreal. Let’s put the various regional outfits into intelligent slots:
In the end, we really should never fear a coalition in our country, because India is fundamentally, a coalition of different languages, religions, castes and other special interest groups.
So, if a government is formed which organically represents them, it should have the stability of a 30-wheel chariot.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)