Good times are here

‘Indian voters have matured, its now the turn of the politicians’, said one article title on the centre-sheet of national daily. That line does two things: It eloquently summarises the election results and also sets the agenda for India’s future. Somehow I believe that this is the moment that India will talk about some time in the future as the one that changed its course, for good.  

The best thing that has happened to India in these elections is the ouster of the Left. This is a lesson for all parties which assume that negativity in governance is populist. I could make even my gardener understand why the Nuclear deal is good for India but the Left did not get it. Or rather they pretended so. It is also a lesson for parties which assume that they can snatch away land from farmers and give them off to industries without once making the farmers understand why the govt was doing so. The entire country heaved a huge sigh of relief when the initial trends showed that the Left was playing no part in the present government. In the next five years, I believe that the government will shed its socialist inhibitions and resume reforms which were stalled due to the Left’s presence.  

I have always believed that the best thing that can happen to India’s economy, recession or no recession, is an NDA government. It was the NDA government under Vajpayee which put us back on the trajectory of high growth rates, it was the NDA which began bold reforms by having a separate ministry for Disinvesment and it was NDA which made India Shine. But why didn’t we see anything about their achievements in their campaign? This is the question that pains me. Rather, they decided to touch-up their manifesto with a little bit of their hardline past with the inclusion of a promise to reconstruct the Ram Mandir. Come on, aren’t we tired of this temple rhetoric? The people of India have understood long back that ‘Temple politics’ wont get them anywhere as a country. All the talk of bringing back money stashed in Foreign banks also didn’t serve any purpose. It was obvious that the BJP would suffer the same thing as they did in 2004. They simply didn’t appeal to India’s poor.  

In contrast, UPA had all the ingredients for an effective campaign. They had the NREGA which was a major hit in all the states that implemented it. There was the farmer-loan waiver scheme which again was a hit. While Advani’s ads on International websites were talking about money in Swiss banks, Congress’ campaigners were telling Indians about these schemes. The NDA was confused and divided over who was the right person to lead them, while the UPA had pre-announced a PM candidate. The Congress had a brigade of youth actively involving themselves in the polls while the BJP remained an aging party. Advani was engaged in a personal and negative battle with the Prime Minister while Rahul Gandhi spoke right from his heart and praised even his poll adversaries for their developmental works. 

I wish the BJP does some soul-searching after this debacle and begins preparing itself for 2014. With the right leadership and vision, I am sure we will see a much better performance by them. In case we dont see a BJP resurrection, I am sure we shall witness the Congress going arrogant and when that happens, stagnancy is all we will see. BJP will need to get rid of the Temple mindset, get rid of the ‘Communal’ tag, get rid of the old so-called saffron warriors and emerge stronger. 

Meanwhile, with a clear mandate, the UPA is expected to embark on the widely expected reforms in economy, health care, education and Judiciary. There are urgent tasks at hand like dealing with our troubled neighbours and setting right our economy. With no Left hinderance, I expect and wish it to be a smooth sailing for the country until 2014.