FRAGMENTS OF A VISION

Rao, Gowda, Gujral, three times Vajpayee, and then Manmohan. In an era of fragile coalitions, India found a new synthesis in Vajpayee

- BHASKAR PAUL

Taking 1995-2005 at face value, it may appear as if a capricious higher power was in charge—dealing out a dizzying series of ultra-fast sleights of hand.

Narasimha Rao was still there as things began, but facing the exit door and, after him, came six more prime ministerial swearing-ins, featuring four faces: H.D. Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral, A.B. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. The Rao regime wasn't exactly the paragon of rock-solid stability, being a minority government taunted by no-trust motions, but it was canny enough to survive for five years. Net net, that meant India was still used to a certain inertia of rest in New Delhi. But this decade is when the law of averages caught up.