Networks

The Maharashtra political chaos is equal parts Game of Thrones and Game Theory

The above article correlates Game Theory with the recent alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena (SS) in Maharashtra, India. Unfortunately, a pact that both parties would share the chief minister post caused confusion regarding who would be assigned the chief minister chair. The parties have gone separate ways and are currently in a stalemate, and the author relates this situation to game theory’s concept of strategic decision making. He dives into how the election’s result relates to the ‘Prisoners Dilemma,’ focusing on the fact that the final impact on the individual will be a result of their combined choices. He then goes on to to explain the Nash equilibrium in Prisoner’s Dilemma.

Now extending the Game Theory to the political crisis in the BJP-Sena alliance. He enumerates the profits and losses for each scenario whether BJP or Shiv Sena honors or betrays the agreement that they would share the Chief Ministers position. BJP used pressure to force Shiv Sena to surrender the claim, but shiv sena opted out of the alliance to BJP’s shock and said they would ally with another party the NCP. However, by doing this Shiv Sena lost many things including a chance to rule Maharashtra. However, BJP lost as well. They lost a strong ally, smooth second term transition and many other things. Clearly the NCP seems to be winning the most in this scenario. Overall, The BJP and Sena have clearly landed in the Nash Equilibrium (a lose lose situation). Arguably, both are equally responsible for the fallout, no one can be cornered singularly. Both are unhappy ending up in their current situations, but both chose it.