IPL ???...

The general elections are knocking hard on the doors of the Indian mindsets and the aspirants are busy doing their routine work of setting long term objectives (manifestos) which will be discarded at the shortest possible time. Gone are the days of majority government at the centre. This is the age of coalition politics where coalitions are broken and formed at the toss of a coin.
No doubt that the coalition governments were there a decade ago as well but what is of utmost significance is the intensity with which pre-poll alliances are formed. A quarter of the resources and time is spent on devising strategies which intend to find the most lucrative poll partner for a party.
This era of coalition was highlighted and publicized by the NDA government at the end of the 20th century and was made an issue against the Congress which till then was portrayed as a bad coalition player (remember I.K. Gujral and H.D. Devegowda governments?). The reply from the Congress was imposing enough as it showed that it can act in a coalition by forming the UPA government. Hence, this time, there are two prominent coalitions in the scenario, the NDA and the UPA. Hold on, there is the Third front as well. Simply stating, this front comprises of those parties which will part ways immediately after the end of the elections and align themselves with either the UPA or the NDA. If we pay a glimpse at the history of the constituent parties of this ‘front’, we can conclude easily by removing the clouds of suspicion. We have the Left parties whose only political agenda is ‘secularism’ and for which it will align even with an anti-social party (Kerala). Then we have the TDP, who was with the BJP not long ago. The major partner off course is the BSP who do not have any job other than creating quotas for every possible fragment of the society. This party aspires of continuing the dream run in UP by forming a rainbow coalition of candidates.
The present major party in the opposition, BJP, has had a history of making and breaking friends in a jiffy. It criticizes each and every move of the government in one of the most intellectual manner but when it comes to the elections, it sees itself nothing more than a temple construction company. It ruthlessly attacks the government on the economic policies but what it forgets is that the NDA was the first and probably the only regime at the centre to have a separate ministry of disinvestment and went on a selling spree of the PSU’s which were grossly undervalued. I bet had the economic crisis occurred during the NDA regime, the Sensex would have nosedived to the lowest possible value. However, not all is bad in this camp. They have an influential person in their ranks in the form of Narendra Modi, whose vision and policies not only brought about a transition in Gujarat but created a vibrant Gujarat (barring his political image!).
Talking of the ruling coalition, it is not without its woes as well. The major constituent, Congress, is more of a family corporate than a party of representatives. No doubt the respect enjoyed by the family is commendable but it also prevents the emergence of able candidates who can occupy the centre stage. The result is the periodic production of rebellious factions which broke away from the parent. The irony however is that some of the major factions like the NCP are its allies.
Then there seems to be an effort to reorganize the Janata Regime in the north where the big guns including the RJD, the SP and the LJP have reunited to avoid division of secular votes. However, in the broader picture, this coalition is the result of the popularity the NDA, Congress and the BSP have started to gain in the Hindi heartland in the past couple of years. In Assam, the local party of AGP agreed to concede a major share of the Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in return for more number of seats in the 2011 assembly elections.
So, coalitions have started to emerge from everywhere and in no time. This is the era of globalization and cooperation and politics is no exception.
This is the era of what one may say as the era of ‘INDIAN POLITICAL LEAGUE’.