third, because there are only two places in your india?

watch the indian national media, and assorted foreign media (you'll notice most of the writers are indian), report and debate on the third front. patronizing, disgusted, confused, frustrated- these are the expressions that come to my mind. in the last thirty years, the national media had played a not insignificant role in building a bipolar world for the brahminized classes. bipolarity is an idea that gives them a lot of comfort: it tells them that their democracy has matured- one of the most important elements of a democracy, in their view, is a two party system. look at the americans and the british. no point in arguing that both the british and the americans have more than two parties.

bipolarity is also comforting in this sense: it's a low stakes game. and the winner is always someone from the family, so it doesn't really matter who wins or loses.

these are some reactions:

third front to oppose coalitions -because you can't expect anything constructive from them?
'third front'- because the big electoral battle will be between the congress and the bjp.
third front forces congress, bjp to rework strategy- how would you describe this astonishing sense of complacency?
third front will only help communal forces: congress- because they harp on caste issues?

i like ideas that have no place in the normal order of things.