May 16 was always going to be an important one in Indian politics. After all, it was "Results Day" and these elections were the largest the world had ever seen. However, the magnitude of the impact that May 16 actually brought along with it is completely unprecedented. In fact, It has completely changed the political landscape in India.
First things first. Super NaMo has truly shown, that whether you like him or not, that he is the "super politician" of India. He has lead the BJP to an absolute majority with 284 seats on its own! The wider coalition led by BJP has got 339 seats. The enormity of such a decisive mandate is glaring. This is the first time since Indira Gandhis death in 1984, that a party has single handedly got a majority. Just take a look at these figures: -
Maharashtra total seats: 48 Seats Won by NDA:44
Rajasthan total seats: 25 Seats Won by BJP: 25
Gujarat total seats: 26 Seats Won by BJP: 26
Uttar Pradesh total seats: 80 Seats Won by NDA: 73
Bihar total seats: 40 Seats won by NDA:31
This "Saffron Wave" has swept though the length and breach of the country, including East India. Clearly, the Modi phenomenon is for everyone to see.
Now, about the Congress. It has been decimated to its worst figures ever. Even the staunchest criticisers of the Congress - myself included - didn't expect the Congress to do as badly as it did. It has got only 44 seats!
The implications of this are huge. This means that the Congress may not even be able to get the Leader of Opposition Post! (You need atleast 55 seats to get Leader of Opposition) To put it into the right perspective, the BJP has got more seats in UP alone (where it got 73/80) than Congress has got across the country! The Congress is in free fall, will it be able to jerk out of this debacle? Will the Congress finally STOP protecting Rahul Gandhi? Will Rahul accept that he is incapable of leading his party?
Thirdly, many regional parties - which were expected to play a crucial role in government formation - have been obliterated. The BSP - led by Maywati - has failed to get a single seat. The JD(U) - the erstwhile ex partner of the NDA - has been reduced to a mere 2 seats! Lalu Prasads RJD too hasn't fared much better getting 4 seats. The NCP in Maharashtra has been annihilated while the National Conference (NC) in Kashmir has been wiped out.
What can I say about the Left? Prakash Karat has truly done a "Rahul" to the Left, if you get what I mean. And surprise of suprises! The father son duo of Mulayam and Akhilesh in UP have managed to get just 5 seats for the SP out of 80! Oh! I forgot Karunanidhi of the DMK, who also got a big zero. Imagine, Maywati, Lalu, Nitish, Pawar, Karat, Mulayam, Karunandhi and Abdullah all are now non entities at the national level! What's ironic is that these were the very polticians who were plotting to form a "third front" government! Ha! Wouldn't we love to see them form a khichdi government now!
Now, while most regional parties have been swept aside by the Modi phenomenon a few have stood their ground! Jayalalitha has truly shown her weight (no pun intended) in Tamil Nadu by getting 37/40 seats! Mamata DI has swept Bengal. (A caveat though, there have been widespread allegations of rigging against the TMC, and hence, nobody can certainly say if Didi has got a clear mandate from Bengal). In addition, the humble Navin Patnaik has won Odisha decisively. His development work in Odisha have been phenomenal, and he has quietly but surely consolidated his position as the prince of Odisha.
And now about the AAP, who must be kicking themselves for not strategising their campaign optimally. They've made a huge debut in Punjab winning 4 seats. However, had they given the strong candidates (Kejriwal, Ilmi, Yogendra etc) better seats,who knows they could've actually gotten upwards of 10 seats!
So, what is the big picture that emerges from the 2014 Elections?
The answer to this question is that India of 2014 has moved beyond caste, and religious lines - this is especially true about the young voters. They've voted for a party that has given a hope for good governance, development, economic growth, employment opportunities and most importantly new ideas. They have completely shot down parties that played politics of installing fear. They've shown that they don't really care about tags such as "communal" and "secular". They've shown that politics based on fear will not work anymore. Also, they've shown that corrupt leaders won't be elected, that is why strong leaders like A Raja and Pawan Bansal have lost. All in all, they've voted decisively. They've given a HUGE mandate to the BJP.
Is that as bad a thing as some people are saying? I don't think so. A coalition limits the reforms that the ruling party can take. A stronger government at the Center is exactly what india needs to jerk itself out of policy paralysis! With such a clear mandate, the BJP can actually push through with key economic reforms. This is indeed necessary to pull India out of the mess the UPA has left the country in.
People have another grouse with such a clear mandate is, won't the parliament be reduced to a one man government? I tend to disagree. We've had a remote controlled government for the last ten years, right? And we all know that the remote was in the hands of one person! Wasn't that power in the hands of "one person?"
If anything, this new government will have a much greater distribution of power. In fact, Modi's slogan has been "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance", and he has been a fierce proponent of decentralisation of power from the Center to the state. Yeah, I'm pro-Modi, if you didn't get that.
There's so much to talk about. Who will form the next cabinet? What should be their new agendas? What are the most important decions facing them? What will happen to the Congress? Can they script a turnaround? Will Modi deliver? Which economic policy will he follow - the "Swadeshi" model or the free trade model?
All this and much much more needs to be answered. But till the time they're answered let us all graciously accept the mandate of the citizens of India! Let's celebrate the victory of democracy!
Acche din aanewaale hai!
P.S. Numbers and statistics are not concrete and were updated until 8:30 pm IST.
-Tejas Mehta
First things first. Super NaMo has truly shown, that whether you like him or not, that he is the "super politician" of India. He has lead the BJP to an absolute majority with 284 seats on its own! The wider coalition led by BJP has got 339 seats. The enormity of such a decisive mandate is glaring. This is the first time since Indira Gandhis death in 1984, that a party has single handedly got a majority. Just take a look at these figures: -
Maharashtra total seats: 48 Seats Won by NDA:44
Rajasthan total seats: 25 Seats Won by BJP: 25
Gujarat total seats: 26 Seats Won by BJP: 26
Uttar Pradesh total seats: 80 Seats Won by NDA: 73
Bihar total seats: 40 Seats won by NDA:31
This "Saffron Wave" has swept though the length and breach of the country, including East India. Clearly, the Modi phenomenon is for everyone to see.
Now, about the Congress. It has been decimated to its worst figures ever. Even the staunchest criticisers of the Congress - myself included - didn't expect the Congress to do as badly as it did. It has got only 44 seats!
The implications of this are huge. This means that the Congress may not even be able to get the Leader of Opposition Post! (You need atleast 55 seats to get Leader of Opposition) To put it into the right perspective, the BJP has got more seats in UP alone (where it got 73/80) than Congress has got across the country! The Congress is in free fall, will it be able to jerk out of this debacle? Will the Congress finally STOP protecting Rahul Gandhi? Will Rahul accept that he is incapable of leading his party?
Thirdly, many regional parties - which were expected to play a crucial role in government formation - have been obliterated. The BSP - led by Maywati - has failed to get a single seat. The JD(U) - the erstwhile ex partner of the NDA - has been reduced to a mere 2 seats! Lalu Prasads RJD too hasn't fared much better getting 4 seats. The NCP in Maharashtra has been annihilated while the National Conference (NC) in Kashmir has been wiped out.
What can I say about the Left? Prakash Karat has truly done a "Rahul" to the Left, if you get what I mean. And surprise of suprises! The father son duo of Mulayam and Akhilesh in UP have managed to get just 5 seats for the SP out of 80! Oh! I forgot Karunanidhi of the DMK, who also got a big zero. Imagine, Maywati, Lalu, Nitish, Pawar, Karat, Mulayam, Karunandhi and Abdullah all are now non entities at the national level! What's ironic is that these were the very polticians who were plotting to form a "third front" government! Ha! Wouldn't we love to see them form a khichdi government now!
Now, while most regional parties have been swept aside by the Modi phenomenon a few have stood their ground! Jayalalitha has truly shown her weight (no pun intended) in Tamil Nadu by getting 37/40 seats! Mamata DI has swept Bengal. (A caveat though, there have been widespread allegations of rigging against the TMC, and hence, nobody can certainly say if Didi has got a clear mandate from Bengal). In addition, the humble Navin Patnaik has won Odisha decisively. His development work in Odisha have been phenomenal, and he has quietly but surely consolidated his position as the prince of Odisha.
And now about the AAP, who must be kicking themselves for not strategising their campaign optimally. They've made a huge debut in Punjab winning 4 seats. However, had they given the strong candidates (Kejriwal, Ilmi, Yogendra etc) better seats,who knows they could've actually gotten upwards of 10 seats!
So, what is the big picture that emerges from the 2014 Elections?
The answer to this question is that India of 2014 has moved beyond caste, and religious lines - this is especially true about the young voters. They've voted for a party that has given a hope for good governance, development, economic growth, employment opportunities and most importantly new ideas. They have completely shot down parties that played politics of installing fear. They've shown that they don't really care about tags such as "communal" and "secular". They've shown that politics based on fear will not work anymore. Also, they've shown that corrupt leaders won't be elected, that is why strong leaders like A Raja and Pawan Bansal have lost. All in all, they've voted decisively. They've given a HUGE mandate to the BJP.
Is that as bad a thing as some people are saying? I don't think so. A coalition limits the reforms that the ruling party can take. A stronger government at the Center is exactly what india needs to jerk itself out of policy paralysis! With such a clear mandate, the BJP can actually push through with key economic reforms. This is indeed necessary to pull India out of the mess the UPA has left the country in.
People have another grouse with such a clear mandate is, won't the parliament be reduced to a one man government? I tend to disagree. We've had a remote controlled government for the last ten years, right? And we all know that the remote was in the hands of one person! Wasn't that power in the hands of "one person?"
If anything, this new government will have a much greater distribution of power. In fact, Modi's slogan has been "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance", and he has been a fierce proponent of decentralisation of power from the Center to the state. Yeah, I'm pro-Modi, if you didn't get that.
There's so much to talk about. Who will form the next cabinet? What should be their new agendas? What are the most important decions facing them? What will happen to the Congress? Can they script a turnaround? Will Modi deliver? Which economic policy will he follow - the "Swadeshi" model or the free trade model?
All this and much much more needs to be answered. But till the time they're answered let us all graciously accept the mandate of the citizens of India! Let's celebrate the victory of democracy!
Acche din aanewaale hai!
P.S. Numbers and statistics are not concrete and were updated until 8:30 pm IST.
-Tejas Mehta