The democratic path depends most upon one human quality: restraint. From restraint flows the spirit of accommodation, which leads to the path of reconciliation

xThe Bihar election once again brings to the fore the quality of India’s democratic debate. Bihar often prides itself as the home of the Licchavis, the first practitioners of collegial governance and rule by discussion in about 7-5th century BCE. Their institution of discussion and obtaining general consent was the “gana sangha”. Of the 16 mahajanapada (great states) in ancient India, two located around today’s Vaishali followed the gana sangha form of government. The electioneering in Vaishali by Union home minister Amit Shah and RJD’s CM nominee Tejashwi Yadav was a different form of discussion than what took place in the mahagan

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