The 16th Lok
Sabha elections were regarded as the most crucial post emergency not only for
the veracity of the corruption and poor governance but also due to the growing
resentment among people. Though the results were not completely unexpected or
out of sync but were a rude shock to the pusillanimous Congress party which failed
to qualify for the status of leader of opposition. A popular poll survey agency,
Chanakya, which shot into fame for predicting eclectic performance of AAP in
Delhi Assembly elections, had predicted similar results in its exit poll
analysis for the NDA. But the exit poll predictions were largely undermined and
dismissed by most political parties. They were characteristically cynical and
arrogant. Some exit poll predictions projected much conservative numbers even.
These were doing rounds after the final phase of elections and have tipped the
possibility of a khicidi sarkar with
various regional satraps becoming the king/Queen makers of the incumbent
government. But much to the dismay of the ruling coalition and the pseudo-intellectual,
class who never lost an opportunity to undermine the credentials of the prime
minister nominee, of the erstwhile principle opposition party, the electorate
have gifted a sweeping victory to the much abhorred leader, Narendra Modi. Interestingly,
while the electoral verdict handed over to debutante political party AAP in the
recent assembly elections was highly commended, a class of self-styled
intellectuals are quite defiant to accept the electoral decision of the current
Lok Sabha elections. The triumphant victory was dubbed by them as an act of
polarisation.
After a span
of nearly three decades Indian masses have delivered a clear majority to one
national party, bringing an end to the growing regime of coalition governments.
A stable government at centre, at this stage can reboot the economy and restore
investor confidence. All the major strategic decisions can be executed firmly
irrespective of the coalition approval. After a decade long rule of the muted
and diffident Man Mohan Singh, at the helm of affairs, there has been a raging
listless among people.
A democratic nation endows its citizen to
elect the government and this electoral process kicked off in India with first
general elections in India in 1952. The concept of democratically electing
people’s representatives was borrowed from the western world. Its cogency in a
nation like India post independence was largely debated since majority were
illiterate. This has eventually led to assigning various symbols to different
political parties by the election commission to facilitate illiterate masses to
elect representatives. But the contour of India has undergone greater
transition over the period of six decades.
The
demography of 21st century India is different with 50% of its
population under 35 years of age. Further with perceptible increase in literacy
rates and high penetration of information and technology, there has been a
gross change in perception of youth. Globalisation due to the economic reforms
post 1991 has resulted in emergence of vibrant class of people with new
aspirations for a better future. People now have high aspirations about better
life and consciously want India to be an empowered nation. They realise the
importance of good governance and the need for an efficient government. Or
simply put, people are clear about what they want and whom they want. These
resurgent masses can no longer be lured by subsidies and freebies. They have
become more vigilant about issues related to country’s progress and development.
People are now able to understand the implications of large scale of corruption
and its impact on their daily lives. The last decade has witnessed a humongous
numbers of money swindling cases and scams resulting wide spread anger. The
growing desperation among people and their fervent hope for a change in
governance together resulted in decimation of the ruling government.
Unlike
yesteryears where more than half of the eligible voters were illiterates and
their electoral choices were largely confounded by the parameters of race,
religion, caste etc. Young India is effusively energetic. They have defied the
clandestine discriminatory barriers and en
masse voted for a new hope. These elections have witnessed a new precedent,
where people have mercilessly rejected the leaders who went on a spree of
shamelessly indulging in ruthless and massive corruption. People made a clarion
call to politicians to seriously shed their feudalistic attitude and refrain
from taking people’s approval for granted. In the mad rush for power,
politicians across the parties have failed to connect up with people.
In this
election people made a conscious decision of giving a chance to development and
good governance. But the situation across India across different sections has
not been same. Election campaign this year experienced new lows with parties
indulging in speeches laced with vicious and discriminatory monologues. It has
become a rare predicament to find leaders delivering motivating speeches focussed
on development and growth. While leaders
who have struck a chord with the aspirations of common man were amply rewarded
others were made to bite dust.
Though the
message has been loud and clear that people have a zero tolerance towards
corruption and misgovernance, an analysis of the vote share indicated that BJP has
the lowest vote share to secure majority. This indicates a sanguine change
towards a new change but the divisive forces too had held their sway but fortunately,
the vote share failed to translate into numbers. Still the winds of change have
to brush past the majority for building a strong and vibrant India. May people voice
reign supreme and may the democratic process be more strengthened so that every
new positive transformation in the society can contribute towards betterment of
nation as a whole.
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