That’s India, that is. My country!!

National elections just completed on May 10th and the results were counted and tabulated on May 13th and declared later that afternoon. What’s that you say? So quickly? Of course! Because the world’s largest democracy was also the first country in the world to have a fully electronic election!! No confusing paper ballots, no hanging chad, nothing. Walk up to your local electoral booth and push a button corresponding to the candidate you want to vote for. Et voila, its all done. (Yes, there are disadvantages, but this is not the crux of my post anyway.)

And, in a suprise to many, incumbent government and world at large, the coalition that had governed India for the last 5 years was voted out! The NDA led by the BJP lost quite a few seats in Parliament despite gains in some states (Karnataka for example.) At the same time, the much reviled (in recent times) Congress party was resurgent, winning many more seats than were predicted.

In all likelihood, the new government will be formed by the Congress party and it’s allies. And the new Prime Minister of India will be the Italian-born widow of a former PM. There are many things about Mrs. Sonia Gandhi that would move her down in the list of potential Prime Ministerial candidates. But for some odd reason, the so called urban educated elite of India seem to be obsessed with her being “non-Indian.” Conspiracy theories of her being nothing more than a spy for Western powers have long been bandied. And more disgustingly, things such as “We don’t want a ‘gora’ (fair skinned westerner) to rule over us” are being said. Strange then that while the educated, literate and well read population of India has an irrational hatred for her, the rural, poor and uneducated have voted her resoundingly into power.

There are those that would say that the anti-incumbency factor plays a role in the BJP losing power. True. I will not disagree. There are those that say that people voted in the Congress and not Mrs. Gandhi. I laugh. These same people will say you should vote for the BJP because it has Mr. A.B. Vajpayee as it’s leader. Yet they think the Congress will not and should not be given the same consideration. Since before the election, it has been clear that Mrs. Gandhi has been the candidate for the post of PM as far as the Congress was concerned. Was there any doubt about it?? Can anyone honestly say they voted for the Congress oblivious of the fact that they would install Mrs. Gandhi once in power?

Don’t mistake me, I am not supportive of either the Congress party or Mrs. Gandhi. I detest the idea of her being my country’s PM. But, it’s not because she’s not Indian-born. She is politically naive, she cannot hold her own in even the simplest of interviews (she comes to every press conference with prepared statements) and she is surrounded by a coeterie of less-than-desirable elements and of suspect motives. The plain fact is that she is the leader of the Congress only because she bears that magical name. Because she was married into that almost holy clan. She had a mother-in-law and a husband who were former PMs. Not to mention the husband’s maternal grandfather who was the first and longest serving PM of India. Who says India doesn’t have a monarchy? 😉 And yet, at the same time, one can understand the reasons for the party to insist on having one from the Nehru-Gandhi clan to lead. The millions of rural and urban illiterate can’t really be expected to be up to date with the latest political trends. But they still need to put their trust in someone and vote that someone into power. And there’s where the magic of the Gandhi name comes in.

Neither the Congress nor the BJP have a clear majority in Parliament and that has led to speculation that a government will be formed with tie ups to other parties such as the CPI(M) or other regional parties like the RJD or BSP. This has also led to people assuming that the government will be unstable, or will lean towards pro-labour, leftist policies since communist parties will be part of its mix. Consequently, the markets have had their highest ever fall in recent times and many foreign investors seem to be pulling out of India in anticipation of the coming “instability.”

There’s probably a lot more to say… and I’m still not sure why I wrote all of this here, but I needed an outlet for my thoughts. I promise, no more politics for a while!! 😉

Mera Bharat Mahan! (My India is Great!)