When the NDA coalition took office, we were assured that the BJP's latent communalism had now been checked and those giants of secularism as George Fernandes would restrain the Hindu fanatics. But nothing of this sort could be seen. Such experiences prove that coalitions tend to work against India's interest. The big advantage claimed for coalition politics that it leads to moderation and consensus is entirely illusory. And all the obivous disadvantages the squabbling for births, the slow pace of decision making, the absence of a clear ideology etc. far out way any possible advantages. Much worse, these days is the nature of the parties that any coalition will have to contain. The sad truth is that nearly any party in India today is built not around ideology but around the personality of a single leader or a family dynasty. In some cases the leader's charisma is reinforced by caste calculation. Every party is based on charisma and family. Few, if any, of these parties actually believe in any thing. A nearly every case there is no inner party democracy. No new leaders will ever emerge from their ranks. Success and succession are decided only by birth. When we talk of coalition politics of the centre we are not really talking about a coalition of such parties as the Congress, the BJP or the CPM. To reach the majority figure, every coalition must include M.P.'s from several of these parties, many of whom will have to be made minister. Thus it does not matter how much one party hates another, how much one support the other's ideologies. The only concern for them is that how many MPs the party has. None of this can be good for India. As our polity fractures into regional dynasty and caste based parties, all