My view: General Elections 2009

Finally, election results are out and it is UPA which has emerged as the biggest coalition with Congress coming out as the single largest party. In many ways, this election was perhaps the most important since 1977. At the time, the country was reeling under the emergency rule and people voted for a change. This time, the country was standing at the crossroads and people had to choose the way forward.

Previous 5 yrs of coalition politics had yielded many situations in which most of the partners were pulling govt in different directions. For example, Insurance bill, pension reforms bill, SEZ issue and most recently, the nuclear agreement. The end result: No clear cut policy framework thus sending confused signals to the world. In today's recessionist scenerio, this translates into even bigger problem because investment is meagre and you have to be ahead of the competition which other countries pose. Another important issue was that of terrorism. Who can forget the deadly Mumbai train blasts or the serial blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad & Delhi or the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. All these issues required a collective & firm response but the govt was too busy in setting its own house in order and in trying to last for the full 5 yrs. It won't be wrong to say that whenever the PM wanted to take some tough decision, he was always pegged back by his partners who were more keen towards their securing their regional goals/aspirations rather than actually do something for the larger good of nation and its people.

Most of these issues came because the 2004-2009 UPA government was made as a result of 'post-poll alliance' and involved far larger proprtion of regional parties. I am not much of a supporter of post-poll alliances. My reasoning is simple. The individual parties ask for people's mandate based on their own manifestos and promises. Once the results are announced, they simply shake hands with other so called 'like minded parties' and come out with a 'Common Mininum Program (CMP)'. Later on, such alliances form the govt and execute policies as per the CMP. But c'mon, to start with, people never voted for the individual parties due to the CMP. People voted for the parties due to each party's manifesto, which, due to post-poll coaltion govt & CMP, is dumped altogether. The CMP is often a much milder version of the mainfesto and as such, no major policy decisions are included in it. This amounts to a treachery towards the people of this nation. Even if one person tries to do something as per his party's manifesto, the allies will cry foul saying that it was not part of CMP. Hence, I strongly believe that if any alliances have to be made, they should be pre-poll only and the common manifestos should be launched for each of such alliances so that people can get information about their policies. This time, UPA has reached close to the majority mark and it appears that no major post-poll alliance will happen. So long, so good....

As far as the regional parties role in national scenerio is concerned, this election has been a watershed moment. Most of the regional parties' leaders don't have any knowledge about the challenges that face our nation. If you ask them any question related to foreign policy or any law, their faces will go blank. However, they play far too bigger role in deciding who gets to be PM. Also, most of these parties always try to bargain their support in parliament in exchange for favours at the state level. Only a few parties (like Left Front) abide and stand by their ideology. This time, before the results were declared, the regional leaders started blow their trumpet and list conditions for their support. Mulayam Singh offered support to ANY party in center if it sacks Mayawati's govt in UP. May I ask why?? Mulayam should understand that it is India, and not UP, which is at stake here. Mayawati offered support to make govt in center only if she is made PM and the justification that she gives is that she is a Dalit and hence, should be made PM. What kind of logic is that? Is this written anywhere in our constitution? Also, will Mayawati tomorrow go to United Nations and ask for the UN secretary general's post based on this reason? Moreover, if we go by Mayawati's logic, then we should be having a PM from each of the thousands of the castes and tribes that India has...Why should Mayawati alone get the post??? I also observed that couple of parties went ahead and formed number of fronts (like 3rd front, 4th front, Grand Alliance etc) but all that is done with only one idea: To get the maximum bargaining power. Fortunately, in these elections, most of the regional parties have lost ground to national parties. This will reduce their interference in the central govt and let it take decisions for the benefit of the country as a whole.

Overall, I feel that this verdict is for stability....the party/alliance doesn't really matter. UPA has triumphed but it could well have been NDA. People have seen too much of political brickbatting over past years and are tired of it. We, the people, are not demanding anything fancy like spacewalks or house on moon etc from the govt. The problems that we face today are the same that we faced 50 yrs ago like jobs, house, water, food, power, roads, transport, safety etc. We want solutions and not excuses from govt. If even now the govt doesn't deliver the goods, people will surely teach them a fitting lesson in the next elections.

Signing off in hope of a better future for all of us...

P.S: Just like most of my fellow Indians, I am not associated with any political party. I only want a govt that delivers the goods.