By Ajit Mohan
Most of the attention around the outcome of the assembly elections last week has been on the dramatic defeat of the Communists in West Bengal and the DMK in Tamil Nadu, and the compelling stories of the two political leaders behind it. The narrative on Kerala has centered on an unusually close verdict triggered by an incumbent Chief Minister who, at times, ran more in opposition to his own government and his party than the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
- Dan Istitene/Getty Images
- Although Kerala is India’s most literate state, unemployment remains a major concern.
As the focus now shifts to governance though, the story of Kerala becomes significant, perhaps even more so than that of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. What is at stake in Kerala is the effectiveness of coalition governance in an era of fragmented electoral politics, and, of even more importance, the sustainability of the only real inclusive development model that has succeeded in post-independence India.
Unlike the rest of the country, Kerala has had a deeply entrenched coalition structure since the late 1970s. With rare exceptions, the coalition partners have stuck to the alliance through elections and revolving stints in the government and opposition. For the first time since the 1970s, however, the arithmetic of victory is narrow enough for the Congress's main partners in the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress, to exert considerable sway on the direction of the new government. India's electora [...]
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