Governance challenges for a coalition

If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense

With the electoral results indicating that the era of coalitions may be back and that Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unlikely to form a government on its own, the political economy debate in this country should once again be focused on the governance model that should be followed by the new regime at the Centre. Even as a majority government, the Modi regime in its last two terms often promised a revamp of civil services to make the administration more efficient, governance restructuring to ensure that both the states and local governments become more effective, and factor-market reforms