The dust has barely settled on the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, yet the landscape of its politics has been transformed by a tectonic internal collapse of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Beyond its poll defeat, the party is experiencing an existential mutiny: Dozens of MLAs, a massive exodus of local municipal councillors, and 20 Members of Parliament have broken away to align with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Meanwhile, two-thirds of the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MPs have crossed over to Shinde’s, and rumours swirl around other parties.

The undercurrents are altogether familiar. Widespread public perception points to an orchestrated transition, with the BJP acting as a highly effective conductor. But this column is not a post-mortem of party splits, nor a lament for how the anti-defection law is being systematically bypassed in New Delhi. Instead, this dramatic fragmentation — coming on the heels of nearly a decade of similar wholesale desertions from the Indian National Congress and various regional satrapies, all to the ruling party — demands that we pause and confront a foundational question: What, ultimately, is politics for?

In its truest sense, politics is the structural framework through which human beings organise themselves to build a better society, a more equitable economy, and a stronger nation. It is the means to achieving a shared civilisational end. To enter the political arena, therefore, requires a vision, an answer to a fundamental question: What makes a better India?

For some, that vision is anchored in welfare economics, secularism, and the decentralisation of power; others may........

© Indian Express