There is so much speculation whether the ruling party will come back to power. With so many scams and allegations political pundits are making predictions, some easy, some not. And the focus wavers, sometimes it is on a hapless Prime Minister, sometimes on Sonia Gandhi who everyone (except the Congress) considers to be the de facto leader. And of course the dynastic predictions of Rahul Gandhi coming to power is not ruled out. All this is done with a sense of glee and alternates this with stoic resignation. The coal gate scandal touched a rock bottom in government policies. Even the PM otherwise known for his  honesty was not spared. And of course the BJP thrives on such crisis. Instead of looking at how to pull its socks up, it appeals to the people against the Congress with  redoutable glee. But the people will be wary. They do not want post Godhra to be repeated, nor can they deny Narendra Modi's success as an able administrator, someone who has taken the state economy to a new high. Or, has he? Newspaper reports do not contradict this.

The fact of course is that the country is in a sordid morass. Taking it out of this quagmire will be difficult for any party or a coalition group. Everyone has also surrendered to the fact that coalition politics, read insensate opportunism rules the roost. The parties supporting the party with single most majority have an eye on ministerial positions, and the power and pelf that goes with it. Let us not forget, that the current dispensation is also a conglomerate of such die hard opportunists, and power mongers. Mamta Bannerjee and her group, always plays the wait and watch game to bargain and blackmail, if things do not go her way. It is, in effect a very regional and parochial party, but they are playing a lead role in the nadir of Indian politics and its down slide degeneration.

So, what are the options? The leftists who once aligned with the Congress, will perhaps not repeat that, knowing the Congress' open and avowed love for all that is the US and its blandishing allies. At the same time it will uphold its secularism internally, and will continue to woo the minority card, the chunk of which comprises the Indian Muslims.

The BJP found in the recent Assam violence a scape goat and a trump card. It is forever defining its brand of secularism, which is ahistorical and devoid of any love for the minorities. The people of India have seen this through clearly, and the BJP too suffers from the absence of a solid leadership. The regional parties some of which are giants in their own states like the BSP, can only survive in mainstream politics by playing the role of a coalition supporter. And this is what is happening. Perhaps in that perspective the only national parties are the BJP and the Congress. The Leftists too have their domains only in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. It is only in Tripura that at present it can boast of as being supreme and all powerful.

So what are the choices we are left with? The Congress and the BJP? Perhaps yes. And it is up to the Indian Electorate to choose the 'better' of the  two necessary evils.