Political stability is a fragile thing. There is no evidence at this point that the electoral stock of the Congress or the United Progressive Alliance has been eroded but this could happen soon enough if the present policy and performance trends continue.
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AN ELECTION RALLY in Hyderabad in 2004. The unity of India, the integrity of its democratic institutions and its Central and State governments' commitment and capability to do well by the country's billion-plus people have come under intense pressure from secessionism, communalism, economic and social deprivation, disregard for federal rules, and foreign policy deviations. POLITICAL India stands at a crossroads, where something different from the patterns that have dominated national politics over the past two decades can perhaps be sensed without anyone being clear about what lies beyond the intersections. The heightened desire for political assurance and stability in the midst of a global economic slowdown and rising concerns over internal security and holding the country together explains the fact that the results of the 15th Lok Sabha election were widely construed to be a ‘clear and decisive mandate’ for the Congress party as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) arrangement that had, quite unexpectedly, displaced the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance regime in 2004. Can this possibly mean that the way is being cleared for a return to the conventional or conservative definition of ‘political stability,’ which in the contemporary Indian context can only mean the unchallenged pre-eminence of a single party at the centre rather than single-party rule? There is nothing wrong with the desire for political stability, and indeed for an escape from the disintegrative trends of recent years. But political stability is not worth having unless it can be built on the foundations of just, secular, efficient and clean governance, and policies that address the internal and external challenges of rising India in a progressive way. It is not worth having unless it prioritises the basic needs and interests of the overwhelming majority of the population, the hundreds of millions of working people who suffer multiple deprivations in terms of income, livelihood, nutrition, education, health, shelter, environment, gender, and so on.
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What makes for political stability? - Frontline