What Indian TV news channels can learn from British election debate

I watched the British television debate on the May 2015 elections. This debate put the smaller fringe parties like United Kingdom's Independent Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage), Natalie Bennett leader of the left wing Green party on an equal footing with the Conservatives (David Cameron) and Labour leader (Ed Milliband). Also represented were Nicholas Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nicola Sturgeon of Scottish Nationalists Party (SNP), and Leanne Wood of the Welsh Nationalist Party (Plaid Cymru). Missing for some strange reason was the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland who also have eight MPs in Parliament. This was the first and only opportunity for voters to see the Conservatives (Tories) and Labour head-to-head in a debate before the elections. The debate centred mostly on local British issues including immigration, The National Health Service (NHS), the bulging government debt and potential plans to improve the British economy. Broader issues relating to foreign affairs or Britain's role in a safer world or relationships with China or India or for that matter Russia were not touched upon.

The two-hour debate in which the speakers were made to stand as in US presidential-style debates was kicked off by a question from the audience by a 17-year-old boy. Somewhat surprisingly David Cameron despite being the current prime minister was given a position on the extreme right of the stage (not sure whether there was any underlying meaning in that), whilst Ed Milliband from Labour (the left) was given the centre stage position (another significant message perhaps?). David Cameron gave a clipped performance, Ed Milliband also argued well but was clearly overshadowed by Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP, from who emerged as a confident and commanding speaker. Nigel Farage whose party has emerged in the last 18 months as a new party and whose views are primarily about Britain for the British and curbing immigration came across as very articulate but also as very bigoted. In a sharp exchange about the problems caused by immigration he was quickly put in his place by the Welsh leader Leanne Wood who said that he should be "ashamed of himself", a moment that produced a rare round of applause from the TV audience.

The debate produced no clear winner as the participants tried to stick to safe ground. It also revealed for the first time in British politics the rise and the power of many smaller parties, unlike the straight Conservative or Labour contests in the past. Parties like the SNP, the Welsh, UKIP or even the Greens could play a major part in the shape of the next government. Bets are also on that one stood a better chance of winning the lottery that predicting if the Liberal Democrats would get any seats in the next House.

A point to note was unlike Indian debates on TV that usually turn into shouting matches, the debate was conducted in an orderly manner by ITV's Julie Etchingham, who despite the sharp exchanges and the charged atmosphere, did not allow it to drift into a meaningless din where no one was heard. I hope Indian news anchors watched the show and learnt something.

This will be a fascinating election and will show whether the British people will stick with the Conservatives or move towards a Labour-led local party coalition. So far the early polls reveal that the right and the left are neck-and-neck in the race. The most insightful comment probably came from Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats, that there would be no outright winner and there would most certainly be a coalition government.