It is anybody’s game !

Subhrangshu Gupta No election has been as much exciting and d r a m a t i c anywhere in the world as have been India's recent parliamentary polls in which over 900 million voters are supposed to take part to choose their representatives in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
It has been the biggest democratic exercise in the world with the deployment of millions of paramilitary forces and the state police, polling personnel and election observers, including several from foreign countries.
Altogether 2,293 political parties and their 8,000 candidates are participating in the polls for deciding the country's political future.

Unlike previous elections, these elections are being fought mainly on the communal cards, religion, Mandir-Masjid issues, HinduMuslim relations, etc, besides the country's progress and development, unemployment, Dalit and backward classes' problems.

Anil Ambani Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi The terrorist attack at Pulwama, killing 44 CRPF jawans and India's surgical strike at Pakistan's Balakot on the terrorist den figured during the election campaign. Political corruption ---highlighted by focusing on the Rafale deal allegedly favouring tainted businessman Anil Ambani and banking scams involving diamond merchant Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi --- was also much talked about during the campaign.

The terrorist attack at Pulwama, killing 44 CRPF jawans and India's surgical strike at Pakistan's Balakot on the terrorist den figured during the election campaign. Political corruption ---highlighted by focusing on the Rafale deal allegedly favouring tainted businessman Anil Ambani and banking scams involving diamond merchant Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi --- was also much talked about during the campaign.

There were so far, no clashes, killings of candidates, frequent use of firearms, etc. After Independence, the first parliamentary elections were held in 1952 when the Congress under the leadership Jawaharlal Nehru won 364 of the total 469 seats and the Samjyuta Socialist Party (United) 12 and the Hindu Nationalist Dal 3 seats.

Afterwards, there were elections in 1957, 1962, 1967, 1971, 1977, 1980 and so on. For the first three consecutive terms, the Congress under Nehru's prime ministership was in power with a singleparty government.

Lalbahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi In 1957, the Congress won 371 seats and the CPI 27. During Nehru's third term in 1962, the Congress won 361 seats, the CPI 29, the Swatantra Dal (Liberal)18 and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh 14 seats.
After Nehru's death, the Congress subsequently formed a single-party government by winning a larger number of seats in Parliament for several years under the prime ministership of Lalbahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Morarji Desai, Chaudhury Charan Singh and Devi Lal But in-between, the concept of coalition government with the participation of various parties got evolved at the initiative of Jayaprakash Narayan under the prime ministership of Morarji Desai, Chaudhury Charan Singh and Devi Lal one after another.

The coalition governments were also formed under the prime ministership of VP Singh , Chandra Shekhar, IK Gujral and Deve-Gowda. This was a major turning point in Indian politics with the emergence of the Jan Sangh (the earlier avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party) and the RSS. The Jan Sangh's Atal Behari Vajpayee was the first BJP Prime Minister who had three different terms of heading a coalition government with the participation of various nonCongress parties.

IK Gujral with HD Deve Gowda, VP Singh and Chandrashekhar Atal Behari Vajpayee

In 1971, the Congress with the 'gharibi hatao' slogan won 342 of 518 Lok Sabha seats. But the Congress was routed in the 1977 elections after the19- month national emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.

After Indira's assassination in 1984, the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi swept the polls. The BJP won only two seats. But, subsequently, the governments formed either under the leadership of the Congress or the BJP were of coalition nature.

The BJP under Narendra Modi's prime ministership completed one five-year term after capturing power with the landslide victory in the 2014 elections. He is also the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for a second term, while the Congress projected Rahul Gandhi, the party president, in place of his mother Sonia Gandhi, as the future PM.

Other leaders of small and regional parties like Mayawati (BSP) and Mamata Banerjee (TMC) are also keeping themselves prepared for the post . They all will be waiting for the announcement of the election results on May 23.

The election results are unpredictable. But one thing is clear. There is the possibility of coalition government this time. We have to wait and watch.