Scary Features of New Lok Sabha

The moment the Election Commission has announced the date of polling for the new Lok Sabha, the tremors are felt inside the alliances and amongst the political parties. The thin line of fissures between the parties deem to crack in search of a better fortune. Amongst the major players, the BJP found it hard to sail pertinently when its most trusted ally, the BJD rocked the boat. The situation is no different in the rival camp. The UPA leader Congress has resented the claims of its partner NCP who clamoured for a Maharashtrian PM after the election. The matter did not subside when the Bihar satraps Lalu and Paswan, the UPA loyals, have suddenly made pre-poll arrangements in Bihar which left Congress sulking and growling. As the days are nearing, the situation seems to get further simmering which would surely make the voters confused and indecisive.

Not only the big blocks or the national parties now feel the butterfly in their stomachs, even the smaller regional blocks and parties are dithering in the same way as their national rivals. For instance, JD(S) leader Deve Gowda reacted immediately after the announcement of the polls by inviting few political parties and renamed the conglomeration as the Third Front. Sensing the importance of bubbles in the near future, BSP Supremo Mayawati threw a dinner party to the leaders of so called Third Front to understand the veracity of the claims of these leaders. The secular Left parties also do not shy away from this national behaviour as they generally play the crucial role after every general election since 1996 except during the NDA rule. For them, the BJD became secular the moment they snap ties with BJP at a crucial juncture. NC of J&K is now part of UPA, RLD of UP is new entity in NDA, Trinamool Congress had been calling Congress as the B-team of the CPI(M), is now an ally of Congress. There are so many and so forth. Let's not muddle into it so that one would not have a clear idea before the election, and make blunders by voting the right party going into the wrong block.

So, what would be the real picture of the coming Lok Sabha and the million dollar question would be who would head the government? Still the election is around three weeks away and the political parties are busy making strategies, it's time to assume in an unbiased way the silhoutte of the geography of Lok Sabha and the person who would sit in the highest chair. Going by the recent activities of the political parties, the opinion of the common men, the reasoning often aired by various experts, it seems that this time we would again see a hung Parliament. If the Congress would not reach 130 and the BJP finishes with just touching 100, it would create a situation where we would see a bunch of regional heads moving to the centre, flexing their muscles and manouvres to become the Prime Minister of India. Besides the Congress and the BJP, there are at least six leaders from various parties who have expressed their willingness to lead the Nation. Sharad Pawar, Mayawati, Deve Gowda, Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Jaylalitha would invariably hold claims, if they could manage a sizeable number of seats to their kitty. Equally, others who would not find any takers for themselves invariably create hurdles for the claimant.

India would then see a sober, hard working CEO in place of a PM, a la Manmohan Singh, who would be governed by a group of Central Committee with members like Mulayam Singh, Sharad Pawar, Deve Gowda, Jaylalitha, Lalu Prasad, Mayawati, Prakash Karat, A.B Bardhan, Farookh Abdullah and Paswan. Who could then be the best candidate for the post of CEO? Who else, better than Chandrababu Naidu or Nitish Kumar, both having good rapport for handling the administration. But how long the CEO could obey the orders of umpteen numbers of Chieftains? Maximum six months.