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By:

Rahul Kulkarni

30 March 2025 at 3:32:54 pm

Why the Majority Doesn’t Matter

Most change fails not from resistance, but from weak coalition design. Even if you negotiate well, you can still fail for a boring reason: You built the wrong coalition. This week we step into the third act of this series: modernize without backlash. Most leaders walk into an MSME thinking change is a vote. If most people agree, you win. That’s corporate thinking. In legacy Indian SMEs, the majority is usually passive. The people who matter are the ones who can stop the flow.   Which Seat...

Why the Majority Doesn’t Matter

Most change fails not from resistance, but from weak coalition design. Even if you negotiate well, you can still fail for a boring reason: You built the wrong coalition. This week we step into the third act of this series: modernize without backlash. Most leaders walk into an MSME thinking change is a vote. If most people agree, you win. That’s corporate thinking. In legacy Indian SMEs, the majority is usually passive. The people who matter are the ones who can stop the flow.   Which Seat Inherited seat: you may have authority, but you still need backing beyond the family name. Hired seat: you may have ideas, but you don’t have a home team yet. Promoted seat: you may have relationships, but you don’t automatically have permission.   In cricket, you don’t win because you have 11 batsmen. You win because the field is set right for the plan. A bowler can be doing everything right and still leak runs if the field leaves gaps. Singles become boundaries. The team blames the bowler. But the real issue was field setting. That’s how change fails in MSMEs.   Veto Players A small blocking group can stall you even if everyone nods in meetings. They don’t argue. They sit at gates: - Money release - Purchase approvals - Dispatch control - Owner access They can delay, create exceptions, raise “data doubts,” or ask for “one more confirmation.” And then they do the most effective thing of all: quietly wait for your energy to fade.   Own Work In one assignment, I thought I had the room. People smiled, agreed, even said, “Very good”. Two weeks later, nothing had moved. Two gatekeepers kept adding small speed-breakers. Every objection sounded reasonable. Over a month, the pilot died … no drama, just suffocation. That’s when I learned: in MSMEs, you’re rarely battling resistance. You’re battling veto power.   Coalition Math Political scientist William Riker had a simple idea: you don’t need everyone, you need a coalition that’s just big enough to win and hold. In a company, that means: enough of the right people so the new way becomes unavoidable. And people don’t jump alone. Most switch only when they see others switching because nobody wants to be the first person who looks foolish. So, your job is not “get buy-in from 50 people”. Your job is: 1. Build a small winning coalition 2. Neutralise the blocking coalition 3. Make it visible so the passive majority follows Politics Drama Name the gates Write the 3–5 gates your change must pass through (money, approvals, dispatch, data). Then write who controls them in real life. Pick your first five supporters Not supporters in principle. People who will act. Five is enough to cover gates without becoming a crowd. Pay the coalition cost upfront Each supporter needs one thing to stay aligned: respect, safety, credit, clarity, control of exceptions. Ignore this, and support disappears the first time pressure comes. Neutralize blockers calmly You have three moves: Convert: give them a dignified role and protect the interest they fear losing. Bypass: redesign the workflow so their veto reduces. Contain: limit their veto to exceptions, not the main flow. What you should not do is start a public fight too early. That creates camps. Camps create long wars. Wars kill modernization.   Field Test Name your first five supporters for your next change. Against each name, write ONE concession they need to stay aligned. Example: “You chair the weekly ritual.” “Pilot data won’t be used for appraisal.” “You control exceptions, but exceptions must be logged.” “Your method becomes the base standard.” “Your role is made explicit.” If you can’t name five, you don’t have a coalition yet. You have a hope.   In MSMEs, the majority is tired, busy, and risk-sensitive. They won’t lead your change. They will join it when it feels safe and inevitable. So, stop trying to convince everyone. Set the field properly. Build alignment with five. Neutralise the two who can block.   (The writer is a co-founder at PPS Consulting. He is a business transformation consultant. He could be reached at rahul@ppsconsulting.biz.)

From Shadow to Sovereignty

Samrat Choudhary’s ascent marks the BJP’s long-awaited primacy in Bihar but escaping Nitish Kumar’s towering legacy will define his rule.

Reaching the summit of power in Bihar has never been easy. Staying there, while commanding acceptance across the state’s intricate social mosaic, is harder still. The recent elevation of Samrat Choudhary as Bihar’s 24th Chief Minister marks the beginning of a new political phase, one in which the Bharatiya Janata Party finally assumes the role it has long coveted of being the senior partner in the state’s power structure.


For decades, the BJP played second fiddle in Bihar, notably under the long stewardship of Nitish Kumar. With Kumar’s move to the Rajya Sabha, a political, administrative and symbolic vacuum has opened up. Filling it will test not just Choudhary’s political instincts, but his capacity to redefine leadership in a state accustomed to a singular, stabilising figure.


Determined Rise

Choudhary’s rise is neither sudden nor accidental. It is the culmination of legacy, calculation and persistence. Born in 1968 in Munger, he inherited political capital from his father, Shakuni Choudhary, but did not rely on lineage alone. His early induction into power as one of the youngest ministers in the Rabri Devi government in 1999 had offered a glimpse of his promise. Yet his journey since has been marked by ideological flexibility and strategic repositioning.


His shift to the BJP in 2017 proved decisive. The party, seeking to recalibrate Bihar’s caste arithmetic, identified in him a potent OBC face capable of countering the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s entrenched Muslim-Yadav alliance. As a leader from the Kushwaha community, Choudhary became central to the BJP’s attempt to consolidate non-Yadav OBCs under its fold. His subsequent appointment as the party’s state president signalled trust. His elevation to Chief Minister now signals necessity.


Great Expectations

Yet with elevation comes expectation. Choudhary is only the second leader after Karpoori Thakur to have served as Deputy Chief Minister before ascending to the top post. For nearly two decades, Nitish Kumar had personified Bihar’s governing framework. His tenure reshaped the state’s administrative narrative, emphasising infrastructure, law and order, women’s empowerment and prohibition.


The question confronting Choudhary is stark: will he remain an inheritor of that model, or attempt to recast it?


For now, the answer remains uncertain. Political longevity in Bihar depends not just on authority, but on acceptability. Kumar’s appeal cut across caste and gender lines, drawing support from Mahadalits, Extremely Backward Classes and women - groups that had historically remained politically fragmented. Choudhary begins with strong organisational backing and the imprimatur of the BJP’s central leadership. But governance demands a different temperament. His reputation as an aggressive political operator must now give way to administrative composure.


Every decision he takes will inevitably invite comparison with his predecessor. On issues like prohibition (an emotive and contested policy) ambiguity will not suffice. Nor will rhetorical positioning replace policy clarity. The first hundred days of his tenure will shape perceptions of his intent.


Furthermore, challenges before Choudhary are not merely confined to the opposition benches. Many fault lines persist within the ruling alliance itself. With Kumar’s departure to the Rajya Sabha, questions swirl around the future of the Janata Dal (United) and the potential political role of his son, Nishant Kumar. Unease within the JD(U) is palpable. Managing this delicate equilibrium will require great tact on Choudhary’s part even as he consolidates his own authority.


Within his party, too, ambitions must be managed. Senior BJP leaders who were overlooked for the top post will expect some accommodation. Political transitions often falter not because of external opposition, but internal discord. Choudhary will need to ensure that his leadership does not deepen latent fractures.


The opposition is unlikely to grant Choudhary a grace period. Past controversies, from his early removal as a minister to questions surrounding his academic credentials, are likely to be revived and amplified in Bihar’s unforgiving political theatre.


Durable Edifice

For the BJP, this is a moment of both arrival and risk. Having emerged from Nitish Kumar’s shadow, it must now construct its own durable political edifice in Bihar. Choudhary is both its architect and its test case.


His strengths are evident. His OBC identity positions him well within Bihar’s caste calculus. His proximity to the BJP’s central leadership ensures political backing. But his greatest obstacle remains the enduring aura of Nitish Kumar.


Developmental aspirations in the state coexist uneasily with entrenched caste loyalties. Any attempt to push reform must navigate this dual reality. Choudhary cannot afford to ignore either.


His personal story of ascent from grassroots politics to the state’s highest office fits neatly into the narrative of democratic mobility. But this sympathy (if any) will not help Choudhary govern the restive state.


The larger question is not whether Choudhary can rule Bihar. It is whether he can redefine it. Can he shed the state’s lingering ‘BIMARU’ image and push it toward sustained economic and social transformation? Can he balance continuity with change, retaining the gains of the Nitish era while imprinting his own ideological and administrative vision?


Whatever the future may hold, it is clear that Bihar stands at an inflection point today. While power has come to Samrat Choudhary, authority must still be earned.


(The writer is a senior journalist who has authored a number of books. Views personal.)


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