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India
chooses stability, growth & inclusiveness;
says 'no' to divisiveness and smaller parties
New
Delhi: The results of the fifteent h general elections
were published on 16 May 2009. The Indian polity
displayed a rare wisdom in this election by sending Dr. Manmohan Singh and his UPA to power so that they can
rule with greater freedom the pressures of demands of
regional parties that are hindrances to growth. The
Indian people have voted for performance, economic
growth, transparency and excellence in government.
"The people of India have spoken and spoken with great
clarity," said a jubilant yet calm Dr Manmohan Singh who
has become the first Indian PM since Nehru to return to
power after 5 years of successful rule.
All over the country and abroad, people were glued to
the television and radio sets, following the trends as
the results were pouring in. The results proved many
predictions wrong. Even the victors seemed to surprised.
The UPA won 262 seats out of the 543 seats in
Parliament; with 272 in easy reach, it is set to form a
government at the Cen-tre. The NDA, on the other hand,
had to settle with a mere 157. The so-called third front
managed to win 67 seats while the fourth front won 27.
Independent candidates and other parties won 30 seats.
The Congress and its allies made a clean sweep in states
such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West
Bengal, Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir. In Uttar Pradesh, the
party came with such a force that it secured the highest
number of seats, surpassing that of Mulayam's Socialist
Party and Mayawati's caste-based Bahujan Samajwadi
party.
The UPA victory in UP is credited to Rahul Gandhi who
insisted that the party go it alone without any tie-up
with local parties. The Samajwadi Party, that once
slighted the Congress by offering just 14 seats in UP is
now regretting its poor judgment. In West Bengal, a
bastion of the Marxists, the Congress and its ally, the
Trinamul Congress, has pushed the Left to a corner. The
Left there paid a heavy price for choosing
industrialisation at the expense of agriculture and
farmers.
The BJP did well in states such as Karnataka, Himachal
Pradesh, Gujarat- and Chattisgarh. Its allies won in
Bihar, thanks to Nitish Kumar. In Orissa, Navin
Patnaik's BJD made a clean sweep despite its earlier
association with BJP and the horrendous persecution
against Christians. In Gujarat, the stronghold of the
Hindu nationalism, the BJP did not secure as many seats
as was expected.
Dr. Singh, who displayed a dignified aggression against
personal attacks from the NDA leader Mr. Advani, has
proved once again that performance is more important
that shrewd and malicious politicking. The NDA, bereft
of any national agenda, is getting ready to sit in the
opposition for another five years.
Leaders and parties that parted company with the UPA
were punished by voters. In Bihar, Lalu won just a
couple of seats. Ram Vilas Paswan, a permanent fixture
in past Cabinets, lost his seat. Other leaders who were
in a hurry to occupy the Prime Minister's Office
Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati have
all been cut to size.
Among the stalwarts, P. Chidambaram, Union Home
Minister, was reported to have lost his seat in
Sivaganga. Maneka Gandhi too was declared defeated.
However, after a recount, the two were declared as
victors. Prominent losers include Margaret Alva, Renuka
Choudhary, A R Antulay, Mani Shankar Iyer, S. Bangarappa
and Vaiko.
Indians in the USA have welcomed the election results.
Americans of Indian origin, who too were anxiously
watching the election results, said the mandate in
favour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not only
better for the resurgence of India's economic growth
amid the current economic recession but it will also
strengthen the Indo US ties. Indian Americans who had
played a significant role in the passage of the Indo US
civilian nuclear deal, said the people of India have
given their verdict against the BJP and the Communist
parties, who had opposed the nuclear deal.
Businessmen and industrialists too are hopeful that the
UPA's second term will bring about reforms that were for
a long time kept pending to due opposition from the
Communists. The stock market too is responding
favourably to the hope of a stable government.
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