Echoes of Pakistan in Indian polls

It was once common wisdom that India had succeeded in developing a viable form of Westminster-style parliamentary democracy whereas Pakistan had failed. Pakistan has indeed suffered a succession of military governments interspersed with periods of nominally civilian rule; as such, it is not a model worthy of emulation. But the rise of Hindutva politics has taken away the starkness of earlier comparisons. Even if there is little danger of military rule in India, the viability of a system where political success lies in appealing to the basest of human instincts and to the availability of vast sums of money, is questionable.

When the two sovereign countries emerged in 1947 neither had any experience with the process of democratic governance. Literacy rates were low, production was largely agrarian and there was no mega resource like oil. Both countries comprised disparate regions with a multitude of different languages, landscapes, climates and cultures. Yet, in time, they managed to invent their own national identities and constitutions.