The crisis at the heart of politics

Politics today seems to follow a rule articulated by Devendra Fadnavis in 2019 when he argued that power is shaped less by political chemistry and more by hard arithmeticAt the time the remark sounded blunt and even cynical But today it reads less like a provocation and more like an accurate description of how politics functions and how alliances are formed rearranged and justified once election results are declaredThis reality is playing out clearly across several civic bodies in Maharashtra On paper the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and Eknath Shindersquos Shiv Sena may not have contested every municipal corporation together but in many places they did so as alliesIn several civic bodies including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC and the KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation KDMC their combined strength is more than sufficient to elect a mayor without difficultyThe Opposition poses no serious numerical challenge and voters have already delivered a clear and decisive mandate Yet instead of translating this mandate into stable governance what has followed is a quiet but intense power struggle within the allianceBoth parties are now focused on increasing their individual numbers not to defeat rivals but to outdo each otherThe contest is no longer about policy or civic priorities It is about who gets the mayorrsquos chair who controls key committees and who emerges as the dominant force within the municipal setupAs these calculations continue everyday civic concerns remain unresolved Issues that directly affect citizens are forced to wait while political negotiations dominate attentionCivic bodies meant to be engines of local governance are now increasingly resembling arenas for political positioningThis obsession with numbers however was not always pursued without restraintWhen Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigned as Prime Minister in the late 1990s after just 13 days in office he accepted the reality of numbers without compromising democratic ethicsHe did not attempt to split parties or engineer defections to cling to power In doing so he left behind a lasting reminder that while governments may come and go the integrity of democracy must remain above the game of powerThe contrast with todayrsquos political culture is hard to ignore Political arithmetic now routinely comes with aggressive bargaining quiet negotiations and relentless efforts to outnumber not just rivals but even alliesPostpoll manoeuvring has become the real election fought away from voters and decided purely on numbersWhat was once considered an exception has now become routine Once votes are counted the focus shifts swiftly from public accountability to backroom negotiations Mandates delivered through the ballot often lose their meaning once results are declared as power equations begin to change behind closed doorsCivic bodies were meant to function differently from state and national politics They were designed to focus on service delivery roads sanitation water supply and local infrastructureToday however municipal corporations are increasingly treated as extensions of larger power struggles in Mantralaya and Delhi where local governance becomes secondary to broader political ambitionsThe responsibility for this erosion does not lie with the ruling alliance alone Opposition parties too have frequently abandoned their stated commitments and ideological positions when it suits their political interests Parties that campaign fiercely against each other and promise alternative models of governance often join hands with ideologically opposite forces less to serve voters and more to keep rivals at bay or secure power In the process longterm goals are sacrificed for shortterm political convenienceCoalitions by themselves are not the problem In a diverse democracy alliances are natural and often necessary The real concern is the absence of honesty Sudden political shifts are rarely explained to voters There is little acknowledgement of contradiction and no expression of regret over broken promises Numbers matter principles quietly fade into the backgroundThis environment has also allowed smaller parties even those clearly rejected by voters to emerge as kingmakers Their influence stems not from public support but from strategic positioningWith just a handful of seats parties with lesser numbers demand key posts dictate terms and punch far above their electoral weight Democracy begins to resemble a mathematical exercise rather than a reflection of popular choiceFor the common citizen this is deeply frustrating People voted expecting stability and effective governance Instead they are forced to watch prolonged political games over power and positions with little clarity on when the administration will actually beginIt is no surprise then that NOTA None of the Above is receiving increasing support In recent civic elections both Mumbai and Pune recorded a noticeable rise in voters choosing to reject all political parties In Mumbai alone over one lakh voters opted for NOTA with turnout hovering around 53 per centIf alliances are formed only to win elections and not to govern together the votersrsquo mandate inevitably loses its meaning Civic bodies are the closest form of government to the people When they are turned into battlegrounds for political oneupmanship public trust erodes slowly but steadilyIn the end numbers may decide who rules But citizens will remember something else whether those in power chose cooperation over competition and governance over gamesmanship That ultimately is the real crisis in todayrsquos politics not the lack of numbers but the loss of meaning behind themSanjeev Shivadekar is political editor midday He tweets SanjeevShivadekSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper