Elections 2009 have once again revealed that India has firmly entered into the phase of coalition politics. A closer scrutiny of pattern of results indicate that the parties which understood the grammar of coalition politics effectively could benefit more than those parties which failed to do so. For over a decade of Indian politics have decisively established this trend. In 1996, for instance, the then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee faced the confidence vote in Loksabha, the entire Indian political spectrum opposed the BJP government. But, within two years, thanks to intelligent political maneuvering, the BJP could succeed in rallying a large number of parties behind it. On the contrary, the congress at its Panchmadi meet took a stand against coalition politics and maintained that it can come to power on its own. This helped the BJP led National Democratic Alliance to come to power in 1998 and 1999. But soon the congress learnt lessons from its debacle.
