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Sunday, August 9, 2009

THE ELECTION THAT WAS

Elections 2009 were in many ways a celebration of indian democracy , the 16th of may saw the indian national congress emerge as the single largest party and ending an era of regional caste-religeon based politics. when the first general elections were held in india , the times were tough - the country had undergone a painful division and had inherited an odious future . Few would have put their money on India as a successful democracy , but the people have proved time and again that this seventh largest country inhabited by the second largest population of the world is the ideal model of democracy .

In a broader view of space and time 60 years are as good as nothing . America has been a free nation since long and for the sake of study if considered an utopia has taken its time . India's growth in these 60 years of hard earned democracy is not just commendable but remarkable. The subcontinent continues to be in a state of anarchy and lawlessness yet india has been able to drive away these hindrances and has paved it's path to gain respect in the eye's of the world as an upcoming superpower .

One reason of this sucess is the clarity of India's voter who inspite of hate speeches , irrelevant issues and filth in Indian politics has had a simple vision for India . The three demands they put up should be fulfilled roti , kapda , makaan and the modification given this election season of bijli , sadak , paani . Everything that's between and else is all but flawed - communal and political in nature . Mandir , rath yatra , dalit ki beti and hate speeches are nothing but nice crispy entertainment for the educated middle class and crass useless for the rural Indian.

Many saw and predicted a hung parliament this time around and few could have imagined the real outcome. with the upsurge of the elephant , emergence of the volatile third front and a quite a comical fourth - the regional parties were all set to eat away a large share of vote of the two larger parties . Mayawati was garnering hopes of the PM's post because till the D-day everybody thought that she was the queen of UP if she had swept it , things could have been different but the congress's resurgence there and the left's debacle paved the way for singh to be king once again .

But one does raise a question was this verdict a disapproval towards the extremist-communal opposition or a verdict for the UPA's five year term ? Political commentators are united on it being the former but one cannot deny the credit that this government deserved , history is proof that the indian voter has voted for stability , for the assertive and not the aggressive , for dynasty as the lesser evil than for the power hungry.

Hence the elections 2009 were a victory for the INDIAN and DEFEAT for all others. JAI HO!


Arpit Kumar, B.A.(Hons) English, I Yr.

4 comments:

Vatsa said...

Arpit, as we know has a broad range of thinking and I wasn't surprised when I saw Arpit's take on Democracy.
It was good attempt to highlight how the people of India have now become sensible enough to decide whats better for them rather going mad over issues like religion and caste and crazy stupid stuffs like that. A delightful winner from Arpit and I hope to see more of him in coming days.

Unknown said...

Arpit,u have done a wonderful job...keep it up

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Undoubtedly…the upa with its ability to take major decisions and actually implement a few may have made it the voter’s natural choice and following the internal crisis the saffron front is going through recent times.. the congress might yet relive its old days..
what seems uncanny is the fact that most people still associate congress directly/indirectly to change;reliability and progress..
the banner which helped it garner mass support in pre and post independence periods.. the third front was a tug of war and a failure like most third fronts because it lacked agenda
somewhat awkward was the fourth front...
I have full sympathy for mayawati trying to raise the dalits’ from years of inherited social abuse and dogma... what is not very convincing is that her developmental plans revolves around erecting statues of herself at various places more than anything.. saffron however is a complete puppet in the hands of RSS ..to rise from the ashes the nda , specifically bjp will need to reassert its position to the commoners and drop its hindutva theology at the earliest..

I personally believe there has yet to be major public decisions…regarding franchise...
one has to relate individually whether voting is more of a duty than a right
the right to no vote for example was an innovative way of refusal to the traditional norms of electoral processes

though i believe in what you've said on being apolitical...remaining aloof from the mainstream is an escapist tendency