Coalition politics will continue to dominate India’s governance as no party is likely to get a clear majority in the general election, a senior U.S. intelligence official said today.
“Coalition politics will almost certainly dominate Indian governance. Since the 1984 national elections, no party has won a clear majority in the lower house of Parliament. We judge that this trend will continue with the 2014 election, and the proliferation of parties will further complicate consensus-building,” said U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper. In this election year in particular, coalition politics and institutional challenges would remain the primary drivers of India’s economic and foreign policy decision making, he told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.