THE TRAIN to Delhi has started its journey and May 16 would reveal who would reach Parliament through which route. Uttar Pradesh has been always a major junction for all the trains which have reached Delhi. This trend is going to stop this time as there are more than four parties sharing the big chunk of seats in UP in this general elections. And all of them have different leanings. Elections for the world’s largest democracy started and results would be out on May 16. Each and every big party is trying to get the maximum fuel to their engine to reach Delhi.

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has started a pan India train journey through a special election express train to cover general elections. More than 50 reporters are filing stories in 12 languages to BBC news service. So it’s a good start to cover a train journey from a train. Train journeys in India and Indian political ride are like roller coaster rides for the common people. This time, whether the Train to Delhi would go over potholed tracks or reach their smoothly, no one knows. Because, there is not one but several deciding factors in the form of regional players have emerged. Whatever, government is likely to be a coalition government. And, it is quite difficult to handle for the driver and to appease all the travelers.

Colotics (Coalition-politics) is really not the cup of tea of even experts, this time. Many allies are breaking their bonds with their traditional alliance. Left has clearly stated that they will support a non-BJP and non-Congress government. Third front led by Left parties is also flexing its muscles and expecting that it would be able to woo other parties to their bandwagon. Lalu-Paswan-Mulayam has made another front within the UPA. BJD has broken its 11 years long relation with the BJP led NDA.

Colotics is awfully fiddly this time. In recent times, power-shift to regional players has made the situation difficult. No one can take lamb and lion in the same coach of the same train. Bihar coach is a typical example of this trend. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad can not board the same coach. In UP, Mulayam and Mayawati cannot get on the same train. In Tamilnadu, Jayalalita and Karunanidhi can not come together. Mamta Banerjee’s Trinmool Congress and CPI (M) are allergic to each other in West Bengal.

There are many parties which can not go with NDA or UPA because of the fear of losing their vote bank. Samajwadi Party (SP) cannot go with NDA and Akalis cannot go with the Congress led UPA for the same reason of losing their traditional vote bank of a particular community. The trend is also true in the case of personal hostility with the individuals. UP chief minister Mayawati, who came to power by raising the issues of Dalits, marginalized sections and criminalization of politics, has given the tickets to crorepatis, turncoats and criminals.

One of them Arun Kumar Shukla alias Anna Shukla, BSP candidate from Unnao, is the main accused of the attack on her in a state guest house in Lucknow in June 1995. The list does not stop here. It includes Mukhtar Ansari, Dhananjay Singh, DP Yadav, Kadir Rana, Rakesh Pandey, and Rizwan Zahir. All of them have serious criminal cases against them. Dhananjay Singh is allegedly behind the murder of Indian Justice Party Dalit candidate Bahadur Lal Sonekar, who was found hanging from a tree. She is not the only victim of this bad trend. All the parties have fielded influential candidates to win the maximum number of seats and have a say in the post poll scenario.

NDA and UPA both alliances have declared their prime ministerial candidates but both are not sure of the post-poll picture. It is possible that big parties may have to compromise with their ideological stance to form a government. The scenario would change its face when results are out. Political tantrums of the parties have started. Mulayam Singh is saying that he would support the government which would dismiss Mayawati’s government. Mamata Banerjee has said in response to Rahul Gandhi’s comment on Left support that she would not join hands with Congress if they welcome Left parties in the UPA. The hunt for the allies is on for the NDA and UPA. Both the alliances are keeping their doors open for the allies. Everything seems uncertain.

All the parties and big fish are waiting for May 16. It is also sure after the alliance is decided to rule the country the war would start for choosing the right candidate for the driver of the train (Prime Minister). The power sharing would be decided on the basis of the seats won by the parties with in the coalition though both the major alliance NDA and UPA have declared their prime ministerial candidate.

At a time when all our neighbours including Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are facing challenges, India needs a stable and decisive government. We hope that the Train to Delhi will reach on time and there would be no separate compartments for the different class of people. All of us expect that Indians would enjoy the bump less journey for five years without halting at unknown junctions.