Natural political order

Indian conditions favour coalitions

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) falling short of the majority mark in the Lok Sabha elections surprised most political analysts, particularly because practically none of the opinion or exit polls projected this possibility. Although the verdict is being analysed from different angles, given the political conditions in states, it is now reasonable to argue that a coalition government at the Centre is part of the natural political order for India, and the past 10 years were an aberration. Except for the past 10 years, India has been governed by coalition governments (or the minority government of 1991) since 1989, after