India decides: A surprise on Saturday

DUBAI : Indians consider Saturday an inauspicious day. This day has ruled their psyche for centuries and believers go all out to avoid the wrath of Shani, the lord of Saturday; one of the nine celestial beings in Hindu astrology.

They believe Shani brings bad news and considers that this particular day of the week heralds a bad start for new beginnings.

But this Saturday (May 16) has brought good tidings for those who have faith in the Indian democracy and will find a special mention in Indian electoral history.

The complex five-phase polling electoral process that started on April 16 involving over four million electoral officials, more than two million security personnel and around 8,80,000 polling booths spanning remote villages in the foothills of the Himalayas to the tip of the Indian Ocean ended this morning.

After the month-long election, a sizeable chunk of the 714 million eligible voters who stood in long queues braving intense summer heat to exercise their franchise were clear and decisive in their verdict. A vote for development, good governance and a complete faith in the leadership of economist-turned politician Dr Manmohan Singh, considered the architect of India's economic liberalisation process that his party launched in 1991.

Initial results and trends showed that the ruling Congress-led coalition will bag over 250 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament. The results have not only defied all projections by poll pundits, they are also beyond the expectations of the Congress party which was hoping to get a little over 200 seats. The BJP which expected a verdict in its favour is struggling to touch the 200 mark.

Clear verdict

The Indian voter, arguably, has never been so unambiguous since December 1984 when the Congress party led by Rajiv Gandhi bagged 404 seats weeks after the late prime minister's mother and predecessor Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards.

Between 1984 and 2009, Indian voters handed down clear victories only on two occasions – In 1999 when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance came to power and in 2004 when they rejected the ruling BJP's ‘India Shining' slogan and voted a Congress-led coalition to power.
Even in 1999 and 2004, the BJP and the Congress could not get a majority and had to rely on the support of tiny political outfits that pushed their agenda of regionalism on the federal government.

But Saturday's results have showed that the Indian voter has matured and is willing to gamble with a two-party system rather than relying on regional political warlords who have pursued their own interests and largely ignored the issues of development and good governance. The Congress and BJP are expected to get over 325 seats when the results are officially declared later this evening.

The Congress-led combine is expected to form the government without the support of Left parties who last year walked out of the ruling coalition protesting India's nuclear agreement with the United States.

Besides rejecting the Communists in Kerala and West Bengal, the voters have this time shown a disdain for smaller parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav who humiliated the Congress party by refusing to give it more than three seats in a pre-poll seat arrangement.

The Congress must take this opportunity to deliver on the promises it made to the voters. The party which has the largest number of young leaders in parliament must deliver on good governance, create jobs for the poor in the rural areas and take steps to protect the Indian economy from the recessionary forces.

Lessons for the media

By around 10am UAE time, the Indian media had taken a call on the elections. It was pretty obvious to them by this time that the Congress was heading towards an impressive victory.

This admission came after Indian news channels and newspapers confidently predicted that Saturday will throw up a fractured verdict and no coalition will be in a position to form the government without support from other smaller parties.

The Indian voters have shown that they are an astute lot. They have proved the Indian media barons wrong. These had attempted to read the voters' minds, funded dozens of opinion and exit polls and predicted a hung parliament.