Twists and turns - General Elections in India 2009

Last friday, I came back to school to get some research work done...it was already late like 10ish and before even starting anything, I called my family back home...from them I learned that its the counting day for the recently concluded 2009 General elections in India...I dropped all my plans, and started follwoing the election news LIVE from India...I was excited to see how the country has picked its leaders this time around....the memories of US elections was still fresh...although there is no Obama back in India, still divisive politics based on religious beliefs, color and region is played out in both the countries...Last year here in US, Obama emerged as a young enigmatic leader but thats not enough to win elections and he had to play his game plan to perfection to get the majority...I was hoping for similar results for Indian elections too where people would pick developmental issues above everything else in selecting their candidates...

The ruling Congress party emerged victorious with a clear majority...the following are my pick as the highlights of the results....

* For the first time in last 20 years, a party with a clear majority was able to win elections...this will get rid of all the dirty coalition politics, where small insignificant players have been exploting the situation for their own personal benefits at the expense of country's growth. Now we can look forward to a stable gov for the next 5 years. What the gov does with these 5 yrs of opportunity is up to them, but they do not have any f***ing excuse. 

* I personally like the current Prime Minister Dr Singh...I see him as a man of interity and honesty, which is very rare for an Indian politician. He has been a Rhodes scholar and obviously a great educational background. So it would be pleasing to see him remain PM for the next few years. India has made some progress under him in the last few years and he has been instrumental in implementing many useful gov. schemes for rural development. 

* Majorty (>50%) of the people elected in this election are young folks (50 and below). I believe young people certainly understand the demands of the country more realistically than older folks.

* It is hard to generalize if the people have become wiser in choosing their candidates based on just one election result, but it was heartening to see they went for developmental issues in electing their leaders, no matter which party. The losing party did very well in some states where they did a good job...so I feel people have started to look beyond caste and religion when choosing their candidates....which also implies that the future candidates be better prepared and propose better plans if they seeking election, and show concrete work if they seeking re-election. 

* The hard work of Sonia Gandhi-Rahul Gandhi team has paid off finally. And it appears that the most popular family in India is about to regain the highest positions in years to come. 

Overall, I am very pleased with the election result. Never been a supporter of Congress before, but this time around I feel they offer more hope than others. They have  their own share of controversies, and weaknesses....and they definately need to work on it if they really want to capture peoples imagination in years to come. But for now, GOOD JOB and GOOD LUCK...