Sam Manekshaw
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With the BJP winning a majority on its own, a remarkable paradigm shift has clearly taken place in the trajectory of India’s parliamentary politics.
The sensational sweep and scale of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral victory was unquestionably the direct result of the strong upsurge in the popularity of its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. The Gujarat Chief Minister was clearly the star campaigner and the massive “Modi wave” that has clearly caught the imagination of large sections of India’s voters has given the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance an unprecedented and historic mandate. With the BJP winning a majority on its own, a remarkable paradigm shift has clearly taken place in the trajectory of India’s parliamentary politics. Breaking the trend of the last few decades in which no party was able to pull off a runaway victory of this kind, the BJP will come to power, free from the pressures of coalition politics, giving it unfettered space and scope to govern. This election marked the entry of 100 million new voters, young Indians impatient for change and extremely aspirational in their focus. The voter turnout — 66.38 per cent — was the highest ever in India’s post-Independence electoral history, beating the record of 1984 when 64.01 per cent of Indians voted in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
This landmark election has also seen the incumbent United Progressive Alliance crash to an ignominious defeat with the Congress party, already on a downward spiral in several elections, now humiliatingly reduced to a double-digit figure in Parliament, its worst electoral tally since Independence. An indefensibly uninspiring campaign led by Rahul Gandhi failed to rally a young and impatient electorate. The BJP’s landslide victory, almost entirely attributable to the sweeping effect of the Modi wave across India, reflects the intensity of the desire for more effective governance. The rising public anger as a result of the UPA’s policy paralysis, stalled economic growth and worst of all, the series of corruption scandals, created a hunger for change especially among young Indians who see Mr. Modi as a leader symbolising their expectations of fast economic growth unshackled from red tape and corruption. It is indeed an ironic twist of history that the Gujarat Chief Minister whose governing record is shadowed by the disquieting facts that have not really gone away — relating to his moral and political responsibility for the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 — has adroitly become the beneficiary of the increasing eagerness for a higher growth trajectory. It is also discomfiting that the election campaign that Mr. Modi conducted in the Hindi heartland States, especially Uttar Pradesh, drew heavily upon Hindu cultural nationalism, invoking as he did Hindu sacred geography in Varanasi and using Hindu cultural idioms, not really imagery suitable to the public space in democratic India.
Mr. Modi emphatically asserts that his agenda is all about governance and economic change. We welcome his assertion and wish him well in his efforts in this regard. But the reality remains that there is a huge trust deficit with the minorities, especially the Muslim community, which must be addressed. He is still regarded as a deeply polarising figure not really reaching out to minorities unlike many of his senior colleagues in the BJP or even the RSS who have made some political attempts to bridge the divide. In order to close the credibility gap that persists as regards his acceptability to govern all Indians, Mr. Modi must ensure that the idea of India as a pluralist and inclusive landscape in which all citizens have equality before the law as constitutionally decreed, is upheld consistently and transparently, while he is in office as Prime Minister. He tweeted exuberantly upon hearing the election results that “India has won!” Indeed the task ahead is to ensure that all Indians share that sense of belonging and participation in the national governing agenda. With these cautionary notes, we offer our congratulations to Narendra Modi, India’s next Prime Minister, and wish him all success, for his own sake and India’s too.
Preserve the Idea of India - The Hindu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI—India's voters chose a Hindu-nationalist, pro-business politician to be their next prime minister, tossing out the party that has led the country for most of the past 67 years.
Riding a wave of voter discontent with the incumbent Congress party and a sharply slowing economy, the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, was on track Saturday to win 282 of the 545 seats in the lower house of Parliament, according to the Election Commission.
If those results are confirmed, it would be the first time in three decades that a single party has captured an outright legislative majority, giving the BJP a strong position from which to push for broad reforms of Asia's third-biggest economy.
Congress—the party that led India's freedom struggle against the colonial British, and is controlled by the Nehru-Gandhi family—appeared to be holding on to roughly 44 seats, its lowest tally ever, the Election Commission said.
The vote amounted to a surprisingly broad repudiation of Congress's welfare-focused approach to policy-making and an endorsement of Mr. Modi's call for more effective governance and business-friendly measures to create jobs and drive growth.
"I didn't get a chance to sacrifice my life in India's freedom struggle, but I have the chance to dedicate myself to good governance," Mr. Modi said to cheers in a victory speech in his home state of Gujarat on Friday night. "I will develop this country. I will take it to new heights."
Mr. Modi tapped into the frustrations of a generation of Indians who climbed out of poverty in the past decade, but who have been prevented from joining the middle classes by slowing growth and a lack of employment. It is a generation that aspires to better work opportunities, a higher standard of living and world-class infrastructure.
"Modi will change the country 100%," said Vijay Thakur, a 31-year-old cabdriver in Gujarat. "He will bring rapid development, he will bring foreign companies to India, everyone will have jobs."
The son of a tea seller, Mr. Modi rose through the ranks of the Hindu nationalist movement before becoming chief minister of Gujarat, in western India. His political career was sullied by religious riots in his state in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Critics accuse him of not doing enough to stop the violence, allegations Mr. Modi denies. A court last year said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him.
Mr. Modi has been denied entry into the U.S. since 2002 over his handling of the Gujarat riots, but administration officials said Friday that he would now be granted a U.S. visa as a head of government. President Barack Obama called Mr. Modi on Friday to congratulate him on his victory and invite him to Washington, the White House said.
Analysts say a stronger India with a more predictable business environment could improve ties between the U.S. and India.
"If Mr. Modi makes good on his promise to walk on the path of high growth, the benefits of those choices will be felt in Indo-U.S. bilateral relations," said Ashley Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Modi avoided religious politics and focused instead on issues of development. Many of his supporters saw him as an economic savior capable of pulling India out of the doldrums, a view that eclipsed concerns over his polarizing reputation as a Hindu nationalist.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579564810455296606?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304908304579564810455296606.html
The sensational sweep and scale of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral victory was unquestionably the direct result of the strong upsurge in the popularity of its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. The Gujarat Chief Minister was clearly the star campaigner and the massive “Modi wave” that has clearly caught the imagination of large sections of India’s voters has given the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance an unprecedented and historic mandate. With the BJP winning a majority on its own, a remarkable paradigm shift has clearly taken place in the trajectory of India’s parliamentary politics. Breaking the trend of the last few decades in which no party was able to pull off a runaway victory of this kind, the BJP will come to power, free from the pressures of coalition politics, giving it unfettered space and scope to govern. This election marked the entry of 100 million new voters, young Indians impatient for change and extremely aspirational in their focus. The voter turnout — 66.38 per cent — was the highest ever in India’s post-Independence electoral history, beating the record of 1984 when 64.01 per cent of Indians voted in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
This landmark election has also seen the incumbent United Progressive Alliance crash to an ignominious defeat with the Congress party, already on a downward spiral in several elections, now humiliatingly reduced to a double-digit figure in Parliament, its worst electoral tally since Independence. An indefensibly uninspiring campaign led by Rahul Gandhi failed to rally a young and impatient electorate. The BJP’s landslide victory, almost entirely attributable to the sweeping effect of the Modi wave across India, reflects the intensity of the desire for more effective governance. The rising public anger as a result of the UPA’s policy paralysis, stalled economic growth and worst of all, the series of corruption scandals, created a hunger for change especially among young Indians who see Mr. Modi as a leader symbolising their expectations of fast economic growth unshackled from red tape and corruption. It is indeed an ironic twist of history that the Gujarat Chief Minister whose governing record is shadowed by the disquieting facts that have not really gone away — relating to his moral and political responsibility for the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 — has adroitly become the beneficiary of the increasing eagerness for a higher growth trajectory. It is also discomfiting that the election campaign that Mr. Modi conducted in the Hindi heartland States, especially Uttar Pradesh, drew heavily upon Hindu cultural nationalism, invoking as he did Hindu sacred geography in Varanasi and using Hindu cultural idioms, not really imagery suitable to the public space in democratic India.
Mr. Modi emphatically asserts that his agenda is all about governance and economic change. We welcome his assertion and wish him well in his efforts in this regard. But the reality remains that there is a huge trust deficit with the minorities, especially the Muslim community, which must be addressed. He is still regarded as a deeply polarising figure not really reaching out to minorities unlike many of his senior colleagues in the BJP or even the RSS who have made some political attempts to bridge the divide. In order to close the credibility gap that persists as regards his acceptability to govern all Indians, Mr. Modi must ensure that the idea of India as a pluralist and inclusive landscape in which all citizens have equality before the law as constitutionally decreed, is upheld consistently and transparently, while he is in office as Prime Minister. He tweeted exuberantly upon hearing the election results that “India has won!” Indeed the task ahead is to ensure that all Indians share that sense of belonging and participation in the national governing agenda. With these cautionary notes, we offer our congratulations to Narendra Modi, India’s next Prime Minister, and wish him all success, for his own sake and India’s too.
Preserve the Idea of India - The Hindu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI—India's voters chose a Hindu-nationalist, pro-business politician to be their next prime minister, tossing out the party that has led the country for most of the past 67 years.
Riding a wave of voter discontent with the incumbent Congress party and a sharply slowing economy, the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, was on track Saturday to win 282 of the 545 seats in the lower house of Parliament, according to the Election Commission.
If those results are confirmed, it would be the first time in three decades that a single party has captured an outright legislative majority, giving the BJP a strong position from which to push for broad reforms of Asia's third-biggest economy.
Congress—the party that led India's freedom struggle against the colonial British, and is controlled by the Nehru-Gandhi family—appeared to be holding on to roughly 44 seats, its lowest tally ever, the Election Commission said.
The vote amounted to a surprisingly broad repudiation of Congress's welfare-focused approach to policy-making and an endorsement of Mr. Modi's call for more effective governance and business-friendly measures to create jobs and drive growth.
"I didn't get a chance to sacrifice my life in India's freedom struggle, but I have the chance to dedicate myself to good governance," Mr. Modi said to cheers in a victory speech in his home state of Gujarat on Friday night. "I will develop this country. I will take it to new heights."
Mr. Modi tapped into the frustrations of a generation of Indians who climbed out of poverty in the past decade, but who have been prevented from joining the middle classes by slowing growth and a lack of employment. It is a generation that aspires to better work opportunities, a higher standard of living and world-class infrastructure.
"Modi will change the country 100%," said Vijay Thakur, a 31-year-old cabdriver in Gujarat. "He will bring rapid development, he will bring foreign companies to India, everyone will have jobs."
The son of a tea seller, Mr. Modi rose through the ranks of the Hindu nationalist movement before becoming chief minister of Gujarat, in western India. His political career was sullied by religious riots in his state in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Critics accuse him of not doing enough to stop the violence, allegations Mr. Modi denies. A court last year said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him.
Mr. Modi has been denied entry into the U.S. since 2002 over his handling of the Gujarat riots, but administration officials said Friday that he would now be granted a U.S. visa as a head of government. President Barack Obama called Mr. Modi on Friday to congratulate him on his victory and invite him to Washington, the White House said.
Analysts say a stronger India with a more predictable business environment could improve ties between the U.S. and India.
"If Mr. Modi makes good on his promise to walk on the path of high growth, the benefits of those choices will be felt in Indo-U.S. bilateral relations," said Ashley Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Modi avoided religious politics and focused instead on issues of development. Many of his supporters saw him as an economic savior capable of pulling India out of the doldrums, a view that eclipsed concerns over his polarizing reputation as a Hindu nationalist.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579564810455296606?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304908304579564810455296606.html
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