Jai Ho: The Indian voter comes of age

General Elections ’09: A mandate that proves the Indian electorate is maturing beyond the dimly defined lines of caste , region and vote bank politics. I never thought that the mandate would be this consistent in backing the efforts of any single national party blurring the divisive politics plaguing the country’s political firmament. It did not matter whether UPA won or NDA won, as long as they won decisively and comprehensively keeping the petty small regional interests at bay. That is exactly what the Indian voter opted for. In essence, the Indian voter, have given a clear message to the political parties: Stability, growth and consistency against personal ambition, greed, opportunism, divisionary tactics and regionalism.

A overwhelming positives according to me:

1. A clean “stability” mandate so that UPA can pursue its agenda of economic growth to the full instead of trying to get the diverse interests in the coalition to agree on what is to be agreed.

2. The emergence of younger leaders playing such a key role in shaping the political fortunes of the country. Prominent amongst this is the rise of Rahul Gandhi who looks to be a destined to lead India in the very near future.

3. The snubbing of BJP and NDA’s will cause it to re-access its Hindutva platform in favour of growth centric positioning. It was important for BJP to understand that its platform has outlived its use in favour of developmental agenda.

4. Keeping the Mulayams, Mayawatis, Karats, Yechurys, Amar Singhs, Jayalalithas, Laloos and Karunanidhis will increase the stability and consistency of the government. Somewhere the Indian voter is beginning to realize the importance of keeping parties with limited perspective away from the central podiums.

5. The left is “left” out effectively. Not only on a national level, but the “red” bastions such as West Bengal and Kerala give it a snub. Again the point of progressive economic development has been re-instated by these states which for long have been fettered by the Left myopic view of development and growth.

Overwhelmingly, it is a Jai Ho for the coming of age of the Indian Voter who now sees himself positioned against the best and biggest in the world and wants to break free of the petty squabbling of vote politics.