As electioneering reaches its peak in assembly polls 2022, an intriguing question may be asked: While winners will be celebrated on counting day on March 10 with dholaks and gulal, what will happen to those who lose? Will their respective parties plunge into introspection, question the leadership, demand new strategies and new leaders? No.
A careful analysis shows an odd trend in India that’s rare in most democracies. In the Westminster model, poll-drubbing means that party leaders must quit and make way for new talent and new ideas. In sharp contrast, in Indian politics, election defeats do not change the status quo and poll losses rarely unsettle the existing political order.
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