The Supreme Court has referred the matter of hate speeches to the Law Commission to explain what the term exactly constitute. Till that is done, leaders of almost every political party are making personal attacks on their opponents. In a divided polity, hate speeches are used as a political strategy to further polarise the votes. But another reason why parties repeatedly falter is because very few politicians have been convicted. This Lok Sabha election is going to be India's longest yet and the challenge over the next month and a half will be to keep a dignified discourse as parties slug it out.
