NEW DELHI: Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy ’s public display of emotion, bemoaning that he has had to imbibe poison due to the compromises involved in running a coalition government, is only a foretaste of what will happen on a national scale is opportunistic parties band together for the sake of power, senior minister Arun Jaitley has said.

“If this is the consequence of a two-party coalition, what is it that a disparate group of parties with no ideological similarity offer to India?,” he asked in the context of moves for opposition unity.

The remarks appeared designed to sharpen BJP’s stability plank by highlighting the risk of political instability under a coalition regime bereft of a “strong leader” and contrast it with the present dispensation helmed by a “decisive leader”.

“If such a coalition is a cup of poison, why even dream of inflicting it on the nation? The leader of the world’s fastest growing economy cannot be a “bechara” (pitiable)”, said Jaitley.

