Such a government can hardly provide a basis for stability, or for issue-based politics. The formation of a government will not put an end to horse-trading, and uncertainty will continue. In essence, the fight that is now going on is a battle for control of what will probably amount to a caretaker government. It would be far simpler to cut short the agony, and call fresh elections.

A minority government, or even a ramshackle all-inclusive one put together merely for the sake of avoiding elections,will be marked by all the ills which have plagued the Indian political system during the last few years. It will also result in policies which may not be what the electorate had in mind when this Lok Sabha was voted in.

Coalitions of the kind we have been having result in some fringe parties exercising power out of all proportion to their representation in parliament. This is surely not what the mandate of the people was. To be sure, there is no guarantee that elections will result in a stable government. But who knows, we may be third time lucky.