| Similarly,
contrary to what is being said by several commentators, it does not
appear to me that India has entered an era of coalitions
Italian-style. A two-party system has crystallized in most states.
Except in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP and the Janata Dal are the
principal contenders for power , in other states the Congress is
still either the ruling party or the main opposition party. Unless
this situation changes radically to the disadvantage of the
Congress, an alliance with it at the Centre is not possible.
Equally pertinently, a careful
reading of Indian history will reveal an undying yearning for a
strong Centre. In practice this yearning was often not fulfilled
before the British arrived on the scene because the necessary
technical resources such as quick means of transport and
communication were not available . But the search never creased. The
Chakravartin (universal ruler) ideal found expression, even if a
partial one, in one kingdom after another right from the time of the
Mauryas in fourth century B.C. to the Mughal empire in the sixteenth
and seventeenth.
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