The recent shift of Rajya Sabha members from the Aam Aadmi Party to the BJP and Lok Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress who left TMC to join the ruling NDA, following electoral setbacks in West Bengal and speculation about possible shifts by Lok Sabha members of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena towards the ruling alliance, indicates more than just a routine political realignment. Defections and strategic alliances are not new to Indian politics. What is most important is that the growing normalisation of defections shows a change in the political culture in India. 

It raises the important question, what will happen to democracy if the association with the centre of power is more significant than any ideology or representative responsibility in India. It seems to be emergence of transitional democracy, in which political agency remain in a continuous state of transition towards power, treating political alignment less as a reflection of conviction and more as a means of securing certainty.In an electoral democracy, representatives often plays a role far greater than just occupying legislative office. They carry the hopes, anxieties and aspirations of those who........

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