A cohesive and stable government?

Those amongst the chatteratti who were euphoric about the mandate for the UPA government must be having to think again, seeing the birth pangs of the new government. The DMK leadership has retreated to Chennai and into a big sulk. Even if compromise is reached on the number of berths, it appears unlikely that the Congress can dictate who the DMK's ministers should or should not be: I doubt that any self-respecting party can concede the point that two of their earlier nominees were inefficient and corrupt.

As for the markets' relief over a patchwork of parties from the Third or Fourth Fronts forming the government and the Left being kept out, it's worth remembering that, in Mamata Banerjee, the Congress has to contend with somebody who was to the left of the ruling coalition in West Bengal. Banking reforms, labour reforms, SEZs- it won't be easy to breeze past Mamata on these issues.

Lastly, I do hope good sense prevails in the Congress and the finance portfolio stays with a politician and doesn't go to a technochrat. It wasn't the pro-reform brigade that helped the Congress do well in the 2009 elections, it was the solid political instincts of the Gandhi family, much of which goes against the spirit of "reforms".