The results for the state elections in India drew up a blueprint for the 2014 parliamentary elections as well as consistencies and surprises, especially for the Congress party at the centre.
Firstly, the people cast their vote against state governments who spent a major part of their term mired in corruption and second, but more importantly, it appears that the political charisma of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is fast fading.
This will ensure that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet will have to weather heavy storms in parliament as they seek to introduce reforms and arrest an economic slowdown. In such a scenario mid-term polls cannot be ruled out.
The states of Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh ensured that the Congress party paid for their lapses in governance and their unsuccessful attempts to tackle corruption.
The only consolation was Manipur long regarded as India's forgotten state. Moreover, these polls have ripped to shreds Rahul Gandhi's credentials as future prime ministerial candidate, at least for the time being.
Conversely, Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, provided a tutorial in how to manage the expectations of and provide hope to the masses by effectively delivering the message of modernism which is a way out of former chief minister Mayawati's megalomania and ineffective policies.
The elections demonstrated that the Indian voter will gloss over religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic questions and cast their franchise in favour of well-being, stability and effective governance.
All Indians have the same basic needs and the voter will not tolerate the manipulation of other factors in favour of short-term political goals. Accountability is the key and there is no room for a second chance.
The Congress have learnt this the hard way and their think-tank, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, will have to go back to the drawing board to examine their lapses.
