Indian governments have had precious little success in pushing legislation through parliament or implementing economic reforms since 1996, when shifting multi-party coalitions replaced the Congress Party as the dominant force in the country's politics. This year, rows about issues ranging from corruption over defence contracts to the collapse of the country's largest unit trust have continually disrupted parliamentary proceedings and built up a backlog of more than 40 bills. As a result, the government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has found it hard to carry out badly-needed changes like cutting subsidies and increasing electricity tariffs, though its privatisation programme is just starting to splutter into life.
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