I am surprised by the naive assessment regarding the 'failure' of the nuclear deal between India and the United States. This can be seen by looking at two issues surrounding the nuclear deal. The first on is regarding the current PM's 'representativeness' to the Indian electorate, and therefore his role and the surrounding credibility in undertaking the nuclear deal. The second one revolves around the 'debate' which was generated in the aftermath of the nuclear deal.
For all the strengths of the Dr.Singh, he was at the end of the day not truly representative of an electorate. This was the reason he was catapulted to power and this very reason places some of the severe restrictions on such a 'technocratic' Prime Minister.
On the other hand , the current political parties represent severely polarized electorates, and therefore are not in a position to frame arguments purely on a broad national context, which the nuclear deal was (I am sounding its death-knell or at least a deep freeze on the issue for now)!
In this context, the nuclear deal for once has brought to the fore some of the real strengths that I think are maturing into the hallmarks of Indian democracy. If we look at the whole 'debate' surrounding the deal - the involvement of various political parties, the bureaucracy (foreign affairs, in particular), the trade industry, the scientific community, the civil-society (media opinion and newspaper), the academia and to some extent the public-opinion - on such an issue area is a commendable achievement.
One should keep these two factors in mind before coming to a quick judgement based on the supposed 'outcome' that the analyst has in mind - "the passage of the deal".
This blog will be a rumination on the political processes in India, with a special emphasis placed on the processes involved in current political affairs in India.
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