Its election time once again, the biggest festival in a democracy. Elections 2009 have been quite a long exercise, what with 5 phases spread over almost a month. The blistering heat of the Indian summer only worsened matters for both the politicians and the 'other' minority-the voter alike. A lot of high profile media campaigns aimed at coaxing the lethargic and apathetic (urban) Indian to come out and vote bit the dust, quite literally. From Varun Gandhi's (still "alleged") hate speech to the much publicized split in the EC, this election has had it elements.
All indicators seem to point to a badly fractured verdict on the 16th of May. But, nothing is certain till the last vote has been counted! With the hegemony of the regional parties growing (whether for good or otherwise), the seat share of the big two seems to have nose dived. If the opinion polls are to be believed, both the Congress and the BJP seem to be well short of 200 and their pre-poll alliances well short of the magic 272 mark. This search for an alternative to both the Congress and the BJP is perhaps a manifestation of a very restless electorate.
During a casual chat with one my friends today, he made the point that this election is probably not a bad one to lose!! He had his reasons and it did seem to make some sense indeed. A hung parliament is an fertile breeding ground for horse trading. Ideologies are thrown out of the window, foes turn friends at the blink of an eyelid and partners are ditched for short term gains. The sole motivating factor is the over powering drive to be in power at all costs. An alliance cobbled up solely on political opportunism will not be a stable formation in the long run. With each constituent trying to further its own personal ambitions, national interests often take a back seat. The dark years of the UF government in recent political history should bring shivers to every sensible Indian at the sheer thought of such a formation emerging in the post May 16th scenario. Like what happened to the fate of the UF government, such an alliance could well mean another election in 2-3 years.
If there is an election again within the next 2-3 years, the disenchantment with an unstable formation at the Centre, the people of India may well give a decisive mandate for some pre-poll political formation. Two years from now, the national parties may have new leaders at the helm. It would be interesting to see who they are and their "acceptability" quotients, but all pointers are towards Rahul for Congress and Modi for the BJP. We are indeed getting ahead of ourselves, and its best to take it as it comes. For now, May 16th holds the key and post Saturday, the bartering abilities of the political parties will decide who becomes the next Prime Minister of the biggest democracy in the world.
All indicators seem to point to a badly fractured verdict on the 16th of May. But, nothing is certain till the last vote has been counted! With the hegemony of the regional parties growing (whether for good or otherwise), the seat share of the big two seems to have nose dived. If the opinion polls are to be believed, both the Congress and the BJP seem to be well short of 200 and their pre-poll alliances well short of the magic 272 mark. This search for an alternative to both the Congress and the BJP is perhaps a manifestation of a very restless electorate.
During a casual chat with one my friends today, he made the point that this election is probably not a bad one to lose!! He had his reasons and it did seem to make some sense indeed. A hung parliament is an fertile breeding ground for horse trading. Ideologies are thrown out of the window, foes turn friends at the blink of an eyelid and partners are ditched for short term gains. The sole motivating factor is the over powering drive to be in power at all costs. An alliance cobbled up solely on political opportunism will not be a stable formation in the long run. With each constituent trying to further its own personal ambitions, national interests often take a back seat. The dark years of the UF government in recent political history should bring shivers to every sensible Indian at the sheer thought of such a formation emerging in the post May 16th scenario. Like what happened to the fate of the UF government, such an alliance could well mean another election in 2-3 years.
If there is an election again within the next 2-3 years, the disenchantment with an unstable formation at the Centre, the people of India may well give a decisive mandate for some pre-poll political formation. Two years from now, the national parties may have new leaders at the helm. It would be interesting to see who they are and their "acceptability" quotients, but all pointers are towards Rahul for Congress and Modi for the BJP. We are indeed getting ahead of ourselves, and its best to take it as it comes. For now, May 16th holds the key and post Saturday, the bartering abilities of the political parties will decide who becomes the next Prime Minister of the biggest democracy in the world.
4 comments:
Interesting to note that you also believe in another couple of years time.
And yes, I agree that it is a good election to lose. More so for the BJP , who can hope to get the strong man Modi at the helm. He has the ability to polarize voters and that more than anything else will ensure a decisive verdict next time.
p.s : Was hoping for a plug for my post here. Lol.
*believe in another election in couple of years time
Kutti was actually pleasantly surprised to see that you had also believed that another election is due in about 2 years.
I was skyping with Maani and he spoke of an article he read a few months back which actually spoke of this!!!
the bartering abilities of the political parties will decide who becomes the next Prime Minister of the biggest democracy in the world - HAHAHA
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