Sunday, April 6, 2014

India "move towards a centrist politics"

Some useful reading:

"India is definitely ahead of Europe in how so many diverse cultural, linguistic and even religious communities have all kept together in a federal political system. Look at Europe — it has become more and more divided into countries. Within several countries that are much smaller than India, deep and violent divisions persist. Ireland is one example...

But I must add that one dangerous phenomenon has emerged — post-election alliances. What should happen is that parties get together before an election, declare some kind of common programme and then face the electorate. Instead, I see parties openly declaring that they will enter into alliances after the results are out. This is not fair to the voters and leads to problems in the political system. " More here.

The quality of governance matters, not 10-year averages.

 the Praetorian guards of the “idea of India”

No political party can hope to win even a municipal election in India by relying on the votes of rich Indians. 

Socialist parties have had the enduring slogan of Bharat verses India. Leaders and intellectuals have argued that cities are colonising the countryside and creating a conflict between villages and cities. 

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