Calculative Politics

The impending exit of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) from the BJP-led NDA is the best thing that could have happened to both the parties – and the polity. And the only and best Reason is that  alliances should be based on fundamental principles and similarity of views, not mere electoral math or convenience. The breakdown of the 17 year old alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal United seems to be imminent. There is a huge difference between an alliance and a power sharing sort of agreement. An alliance is supposed to share some core ideas and similar principles. And a power sharing agreement is about compromising principles and ideals to gain power. So its crystal clear  in that sense that neither NDA nor UPA is an alliance. They are pre or post-election power sharing arrangements. This  is why the so called demise of the NDA is not a bad thing. At the core of the NDA alliance are just three parties: BJP , Akali Dal and Shiv Sena. All three share the basic idea that religious identity is important to their politics. The rest of the NDA is often reconstructed only after the election which shows who has what numbers to culminate in a power sharing arrangement.

 So why to make a calculative process such a thinkable issue. It happens and will keep on happening every time there will be a power sharing agreement.