BJP may acknowledge it or not but the government’s recent “U-turns” on certain issues are reflective of the realities of coalition politics – Manish Tewari, Senior Congress Leader

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The 2024 Lok Sabha election results were not so much about the numbers but about giving India a chance to “breathe” and for its institutions to start functioning again, says senior Congress leader and former I&B Minister Manish Tewari.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency’s headquarters , the former Union minister also asserted that the BJP may acknowledge it or not but the government’s recent “U-turns” on certain issues are reflective of the realities of coalition politics.

Tewari said he believes India requires a “second wave of democratic reforms” whereby structures which really underpin the democratic edifice of India need to be more participatory, inclusive and democratic.

Starting from there to where the joint opposition was able to come with the numbers in the Lok Sabha stacking at 236 to about 300 for the BJP along with its NDA allies, the best thing that has happened is that it has “allowed this country to breath and given institutions a chance to start functioning again”, Tewari said.

The atmosphere of “utter stiflement” whereby everybody had installed a sensor in their own head, at least that particular spectre, seems to be in the background now since June 2024, he said.

“I see a more media approach to the media. It is no longer behaving as an unabashed propagandist, at least certain sections of it. You also see the impact of the 2024 results on other institutions in terms of the fact that everybody seems to be wanting to return to the natural state of equilibrium which a democracy really should be,” the Congress leader said.