New Delhi: The multi-party system in India will survive despite the “brute majority" of one party, former president Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday in an exclusive interview to CNN-News18.
Asked if the shift from coalition to the prominence of one party presented a dangerous scenario, Mukherjee said dominance of one party has been the feature of India’s political history.
“From 1952 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1989, there was the dominance of the Indian National Congress. After the coalition era, India elected Mr Narendra Modi and the BJP with 283 seats in the Lok Sabha, giving them a clear majority. But this is not a new phenomenon. The party in power at Centre winning subsequent assembly elections is not new," said Mukherjee, who was the finance minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet before heading to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The former president added that ups and downs were normal, but no political party can be erased in a parliamentary system.
“India is a multi-party political system and I believe no political party can be erased. There may be difficulties and defeats at some point in time. There are ups and downs wherever there is parliamentary system. But down does not mean permanently down," he said.
“Today's opposition party can become the ruling party of tomorrow. Maybe distant tomorrow, may be immediate; nonetheless the possibility is always there. That is the beauty of a multi-party democratic system and that is the beauty of the Indian system. So I do not visualise a day when all politoical parties are going to be extinguished and only one party remains. It is not possible in India."
Watch the full interview on CNN-News18 at 9.55 pm on Friday, October 27.
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