LONDON — As the largest democracy in the world enters into the campaign phase for its 15th parliamentary elections, it seems preoccupied with trivialities: Which Bollywood actor will contest? Which Nehru-Gandhi family scion will be the prime ministerial candidate? Will various regional satraps come together? Who will leave which coalition and align with whom?
The great Indian Tamasha (show) as the Indian elections are fondly called have genuinely become all spectacle this time where the Indian electorate appears to be waiting to be entertained by the tricks up the sleeves of Indian politicos. Elections have been reduced to electoral jugglery where the main debate is about who will join whom, thereby shaping the coalition architecture and the next government.
These elections might just turn out to be the one of the most banal exercises this country has ever undertaken. The electoral scenario of today's India would be comical if the stakes were not so high. India will get its next government by default and such an outcome is never good for the health of a democracy.