Congress wins big – Congratulations!!
In these days of coalition, getting over 200 seats singlehandedly should be considered a “land-slide”! It also underscores the fact that Congress does have the pulse of the land in its strategy.
BJP lost at least 18 seats that it had won last time and Left went down by 36. So, if BJP didn’t “get it”, then Left DOUBLY doesn’t “get it”! Between the “Left” and the “Right” of the Indian polity is the “Center”. The country basically said resoundingly.. that it is Centrist. Not that hisory bears it out – because I truly feel that Congress has played its cards with either Leftists and also been communal in its own right (1984 massacres proved that decisively) – but at least they are able to carry that perception through.
Another factor that is important is the image of the leader. Dr. Manmohan Singh has an image of a wise and deliberate personality. He is a serious person with great achievements and someone who, I feel made modern business-oriented and progressive India, what it is today. I surely do not agree with many of his policies but no one can take away the fact that he is a serious guy who has the good of the country at his heart. Advani, although one of the best Home Ministers in recent decades, cannot seem to get away from image of being a “hawk”.
So, if I was BJP’s head, I would concede this election gracefully.. congratulate Dr. Singh and Rahul Gandhi and prepare to do a better job next time. There is a time for “fight” and there is a time for “graceful acceptance”. After the elections, this is the time for the latter!
One thing that I find VERY good in this result is that at the very least, Congress would not have to “compromise” much on its agenda. With the loss of Left – actually a complete wipe-out! – it is a great situation for Congress… and specifically Dr. Manmohan Singh to take off from where he left his Financial and economic reforms that he started in 1992.
That the Left has been completely and comprehensively routed in West Bengal and Kerala – which have been considered its hinterland – is greatly heartening for me. I truly considered Leftists as anti-national and the most wretched bunch of people in the Indian polity. We Indians have no reason to suffer them. West Bengal has seen the complete mess that their state was made during the over 25 years of Left rule. From the most progressive and industrial state, it is a true BIMARU state. Businessmen hate to go there for its industrial culture is the WORST in the country and only truly adventurous end up there. But those like Ratan Tata then have to quickly move out.
If you go back in history, you will see that Communists started a grass-roots movement to bring in communism in West Bengal and changed a state which had produced the greatest Spiritual luminaries of the past two centuries – Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Aurobindo, Tagore – to be a place where spirituality and God was an anathema! Such was the wretchedness of this bunch of anti-national idiots. As much as Bengalis profess their love for Tagore, little do they realize that if Tagore was alive today, he would have been the most hated person of the Leftists. In fact, a Tagore cannot even come in that land today!
Interestingly, what worked for Leftists – of championing for the poor by targetting the industrialists, seems to have been taken to heart by Trinamool.. and it has succeeded using the same strategy that Lefists used. The masses are in the same place – they hate industry and are made to love freebies – just that the champions have changed! Now, Trinamool ensures that better than Leftists did. That’s all!
In Kerala this year, Congress swept over the CPI (M). This is a BETTER story than the one in West Bengal. Because THIS represents a “Paradigm Shift”. In West Bengal, it is the “Same Old”. Not so in Kerala. I guess with the expatriates coming back this year in droves from Gulf, the mindset may be getting affected.. which may be contributing to the “Paradigm Shift” that we see via this elections. This is something that needs to be celebrated.
