last month's general election in India has significant message for all of us. In more then one way ,it was historic election.
First: The participation of voters was unprecedented , and more important young voters contributed significantly in this enhanced voter participation. Election Commission of India must be congratulated for this. They did a marvelous job through their SVEEP programme.
Second: The result of election was also historic. For the first time after Independence a truly Non congress government has got an absolute majority in lower house.(In 1977 Janta Party was simply a mixture of four political parties, ideologically different political parties who came together simply to dislodge congress govt of emergency days)
Third: For the first time a party has got absolute majority without getting substantial votes of minorities, particularly muslims. That is baffling because muslim constitutes 15 % of total votes and they are considered to influence result in almost 100 constituencies. Since 1952 ruling party or at least ruling coalition always got a big part of muslim votes.
Fourth:
For the first time since 1984, there will not be any recognised opposition perty, as no party has got more then 10% of total seats. Congress will have to depend on mercy of ruling party to get its loksabha leader designated as leader of opposition.
Fifth: Congress has fared so badly that it is more now like a regional party. And there are some very influential party (Who have played a decisive role in letting UPA govt survive at crucial juncture) which are no longer represented like Mayavati's BSP, Ajit Singh's RLD, Farooq Abdullah's National Conference etc.
No doubt the present Loksabha will be totally different in its texture and for the first time a political party with a different ideology vis a vis congress party has got the mandate of people.
The million dollar question is how it happened. I think there are some concrete reasons:
firstly- All the political parties except NDA tried to corner bulk of Muslim votes through aggressive incentives exclusively meant for minorities. This intense fight among "Secular" parties led to a situation that majority of Hindus felt cornered in this vote bank politics. This led to erosion of caste lines during voting.
secondly- The people of India always associate themselves with a sense of pride with respect to the post of Prime Minister of India. Gradual marginalization of this highly august post means people felt a kind of humiliation for themselves. For them this post of PM is not a party post. Incidences of undermining the authority of PM sent a very bad signal to masses. It is noteworthy that an assertive Prime Minister in 2009 got majority of votes but in UPA2 story was completely different.
thirdly- UPA 2 was rocked by series of scams. Governemnt of the day not only failed to control these scams but a message was seen that Govt is trying to shield the culprits. The corruption tag cost dearly to Congress.
fourth- The life of common mass became more and more difficult due to gradual rise in inflation and consequent rise in prices of essential commodities. People were fed of daily problems due to this rise in price.
fifth- UPA went in election with a negative bent of mind. Instead of highlighting their achievements, they try to convince people that Narendra Modi is demon type of person ,that country will be divided if he comes to power. It even tried to negate the Gujrat model of developments. The treatment of Nrendra Modi like a political untouchable proved counter productive.
In my all the above five reasons collectively led to collapse of congress and emergence of BJP to the centre of Indian Political system
So, No doubt , a new era in Indian Polity has emerged.
First: The participation of voters was unprecedented , and more important young voters contributed significantly in this enhanced voter participation. Election Commission of India must be congratulated for this. They did a marvelous job through their SVEEP programme.
Second: The result of election was also historic. For the first time after Independence a truly Non congress government has got an absolute majority in lower house.(In 1977 Janta Party was simply a mixture of four political parties, ideologically different political parties who came together simply to dislodge congress govt of emergency days)
Third: For the first time a party has got absolute majority without getting substantial votes of minorities, particularly muslims. That is baffling because muslim constitutes 15 % of total votes and they are considered to influence result in almost 100 constituencies. Since 1952 ruling party or at least ruling coalition always got a big part of muslim votes.
Fourth:
For the first time since 1984, there will not be any recognised opposition perty, as no party has got more then 10% of total seats. Congress will have to depend on mercy of ruling party to get its loksabha leader designated as leader of opposition.
Fifth: Congress has fared so badly that it is more now like a regional party. And there are some very influential party (Who have played a decisive role in letting UPA govt survive at crucial juncture) which are no longer represented like Mayavati's BSP, Ajit Singh's RLD, Farooq Abdullah's National Conference etc.
No doubt the present Loksabha will be totally different in its texture and for the first time a political party with a different ideology vis a vis congress party has got the mandate of people.
The million dollar question is how it happened. I think there are some concrete reasons:
firstly- All the political parties except NDA tried to corner bulk of Muslim votes through aggressive incentives exclusively meant for minorities. This intense fight among "Secular" parties led to a situation that majority of Hindus felt cornered in this vote bank politics. This led to erosion of caste lines during voting.
secondly- The people of India always associate themselves with a sense of pride with respect to the post of Prime Minister of India. Gradual marginalization of this highly august post means people felt a kind of humiliation for themselves. For them this post of PM is not a party post. Incidences of undermining the authority of PM sent a very bad signal to masses. It is noteworthy that an assertive Prime Minister in 2009 got majority of votes but in UPA2 story was completely different.
thirdly- UPA 2 was rocked by series of scams. Governemnt of the day not only failed to control these scams but a message was seen that Govt is trying to shield the culprits. The corruption tag cost dearly to Congress.
fourth- The life of common mass became more and more difficult due to gradual rise in inflation and consequent rise in prices of essential commodities. People were fed of daily problems due to this rise in price.
fifth- UPA went in election with a negative bent of mind. Instead of highlighting their achievements, they try to convince people that Narendra Modi is demon type of person ,that country will be divided if he comes to power. It even tried to negate the Gujrat model of developments. The treatment of Nrendra Modi like a political untouchable proved counter productive.
In my all the above five reasons collectively led to collapse of congress and emergence of BJP to the centre of Indian Political system
So, No doubt , a new era in Indian Polity has emerged.
