Phase one of India’s month-long parliamentary elections kicks off on April 16. The 714-million-strong electorate appears to be split between myriad parties and their competing platforms, with the result that analysts predict a new government hamstrung by coalition politics.
What do you think are the issues that will be on Indian voters’ minds when they go to the polls? Employment? The economy? Communal issues? Or India’s global standing?
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Indian democracy is in shambles because the way people are choosing their leaders based on caste,religion and some other trivial criteria. the middle class has grown much bigger in the last 10 years. there are still people who are suffering hunger and lack of lots of basic amenities. but india’s economy is still vibrant and creating lots of jobs.
Democracy is not good for developing nations. Democracy is one of the reasons why India is still lagging behind China with no hope of catching with the dragon in near future.
Democracy makes development a very slow and tortourus process. Some things that can be achieved in China in some minutes will take escaping years of litigations, people’s movements in India. For example, West Bengal government’s endeavour and eventual falure to set up Tata Nano plant in one of its districts is a perfect example.
Similarly acquiring land for a highway in China must be a cakewalk for the people’s liberation army, but for the Indian state it is a matter of fighting numerous cases filed by landowners in courts for many years.
No wonder, India is still struggling and China is leaping forward.
There is no point in having freedom of speech when you take 1.5 hours to travel a distance of 15 Kms during peak hours in India’s booming cities.
First of All, I will Congratulate Dawn for introducing New Avtar of It on the Web.
Now Straight to matter-:
Indian Politics has become very complicated, Honestly speaking only issues which matters to indians in this election is not terrorism, kashmir or Separatist movement or Naxalite or Maoist Threat ,Answer is obvious its Employment and Basic Civic Amenities thats it.
Hi,
There is a need to improve our villages, and educate each n everybody. Most of todays politicians are bothered of how to double the money what they have invested during election. And many are not well qualified, they are into election because of money power and muscle power. These politicians have become termites eating tax payers money. What is the worst part is there are some candidates who are really good and are independent candidates but are rejected by the people due to national parties. I really wish candidates like Captain Gopinath, E Sarathbabu(From slum to crorepati) etc are elected to raise the voice of common man..
We are asked: “What do you think are the issues that will be on Indian voters’ minds when they go to the polls? Employment? The economy? Communal issues? Or India’s global standing?”
A retrospective on U.S. elections can answer these interrogatives about Bharat: People vote with their stomachs, not their minds, and certainly not with a view towards something called “global standing”.
“All politics is local politics”, said the sage. Nothing more local than one’s stomach.
India, the largest democracy of the world, proved that by democracy a state can win hearts & minds of people. It is the democracy of India because of which not a single meter territory of India is taken by any separatist movement since 1947 but here in Pakistan we have lost half of the country in 1971 & now the Swat is lost. We in Pakistan should learn from India about the state craft. As far as the issues dominating Indian Elections of 2009 are concerned I think ” Regionalism” emerge as one of the main determinant in the results and not a single party would emerge as majority power. I think India will enjoy 5 good more years of coalition government.
AS a student of politics in this region, i feel the politics of subcontinent is deviating from tradition patterns. Most probably this election in India will demonstrate new trend,i.g regional but secular politics will be the future of India. it would be result of negotiated diversity. Compromise is democracy. People of Pakistan feel they have a lot of things in common with Indians despite self created idealogical orientations,especially abiding desire of ‘right’ to use religion for politics.
Indian democracy is biggest failure. India and pakistan have both failed. Indian democracy is farce and muslims, dalits, women and backward classes etc are repressed by high caste hindu men and still women burning going on .I feel sorry for 60% of Indians whohave no food and water and sanitation. Hope soon this tamasha of election is over.
The multiplicity of parties and their now well established and increasingly powerful role in deciding not only who rules but how, has succeeded in giving these “minorities” a welcome level of lopsided influence.
In my opinion, this deal making and forming of alliances ensures most groups would get a voice and cannot be ignored. It is better than having two very strong parties able to form government on their own where these smaller parties could be easily sidelined.
Sure the process is not perfect and sometimes abused. But as Indian voters of all stripes get better organized and replicate successes and methods of other groups; this process is only going to get more refined.
Other thing to note is the growing ability of at least some of these small parties to attract support from outside their “normal” base based on their ideas and leadership.
Last but not the least, it’s really impressive the way India has reached a level where there are no “hanging chads” or Supreme Court decisions or other controversies on who won the election.
The fact that they are able to do it, in a much grander scale than any other, and despite the great variety of languages, castes and religions, sets the elections in India an example others in the world can aspire to emulate. Minor glitches and some violence in remote areas can not take that away.
I’m hoping that NDA become a big winner and tackle all mess which is created by Congress in 55 Years.
Poverty, Education and Economic growth should be priority for the Party in power.
About Terrorism, Deal with them ruthlessly and make faster trial process to Hang them as soon as possible.
Pakistan should help in wiping out all these evil forces from their land.
Let India and Pak be Friends and help each other to prosper and have batter life for their citizen.
Terrorism, Economic meltdown and soaring food prices will the issues that will dominate this election.
I think that the BJP led NDA will probably make a good government and there chances are more compared to Congress led UPA.
Whoever wins this election the relationship with Pakistan can’t be normal unless they show substantial progress in the 26/11 investigation. This is because people in India are frustrated with the Pakistan Governments response and the Indian Government’s ability to for-see such attack and no parties will want to loose the votes by showing any friendly gesture towards Pakistan.
India’s people make the country the most diverse nation in the world. Therefore, the voters will have the most diverse issues on their minds. These may be education, poverty, community, religious, caste, regional issues or the world platform but India has come long way out of South Asian closet and moved ahead on into global arena. No matter who may be elected, the democracy of India survived and flourished under wisdom of democratically elected politicians. Military kept out of political process and never dared to rob the people of their right to be ruled by their democratically elected government.
In Sindhi it is said “Churye khe phuriyo na pohochay” means one who remains behind can not catch the one who moved ahead. India has moved a head of the South Asian pack and the people of India see their country will continue to move ahead and play an important role in global arena. That is how they will vote with pride for democracy and prosperity, slowly but definitely moving in that direction.
Saladin,
You can never really escape from the reality that all religions are “isms”. Thats why countries based on these “isms” look so less credible to the rest of the world.
Saladin A says:
April 17th, 2009 at 3:03 pm Dr Imran
I am shocked at your message.
There should not be any such a thing as Sunnism or Shiaism in Islam because these are man-made ‘ism’s.
It is an election. People know what is best for them. Whoever wins is good.
Dr Imran
I am shocked at your message.
There should not be any such a thing as Sunnism or Shiaism in Islam because these are man-made ‘ism’s. So please Dr Imran, talk of uniting Muslims, such talk harms unity. You can find this example of disintegration in Iraq; and the reason it was invaded and occupied was because foreign powers exploited sectarianism, and the same could happen in Pakistan.
In fact, the Shias are well off and better off than the majority of Pakistanis. Bhuttos’, Zardaris, Gillanis, Mukhdoomzadas etc are ruling Pakistan and have always held top posts in Pakistan’s politics and armed forces.
I believe all of the above in an ideal situation. But, remember this whole exercise in futility called democracy is supposed to focus on all including the little guy the destitute,disenchanted and the deprived. They could for the moment care less about Terrorism or other such lavish thoughts.
Congress coming back to power may not be a good sign as far as India and also Pakistan is concerned. Congress inherits leaders that are not very proactive in perusing policies of national and international interest.Let me bring to your notice that the congress had been in power for almost 50 yrs in India but it was only under NDA rule that India gained such a international stature & in the 60 year of India Pakistan history, it was only during BJP’s rule that both the countries enjoyed some warmth in the thawed relations as a result of various confidence building measures perused by Vajpaye’s govt.The Lahore bus and the India Pakistan cricket series where the Indian fans were so warm hardheartedly welcomed by the Pakistani people and Indian player Lakshmi Pati Balaji becoming huge hit amongst Pakistani spectator.I don’t remember any such moment in 50 yrs of congress rule.I hoped at that time that winds of change has started blowing, then every thing was ruined by the Pakistani army’s misadventure in kargil. But at least NDA govt tried to do its part, it always needs some out of the box thinking to bring about any kind of change that is for the long lasting benefit of the common mass, and this is were the bjp leadership scores far ahead of congress.Yes even i disagree with the hindutva agenda that the party follows.But the bottom line is social and economic development.According to a recent survey by one of the international news agency the National Rural Employment Programme(NREP) which has been launched by congress and which has costed the country’s exchequer to such an extent that it has put a question mark on the funding of new schemes, is actually a big flopp in the congress led states. Many interviews of the so called benefactors of this programs suggested that they never got their wages all were gobbled up by the contractors or the middle men.But this kind of report was limited only to the states governed by congress or its alliance parties.While the reports suggested that the NREP was doing quite well in the BJP run states. I have been in three states that has witnessed the transition of power from other party to the bjp, for all the 3 states my observation was the same, bjp+power=developement
i was in the state of Madhya Pradesh while perusing my engg studies in 2002 at that time the state was being run under chief minister ship of Digvijay Singh of congress since last 10 yrs and the state of infrastructure like roads, electricity etc etc was in shambles then came bjp in 2004 and things have changed drastically and BJP has been elected the second time to power this yr same is the story for Gujarat and other BJP led states ……………and congress …….only Delhi has changed rest of the country is insignificant for them.So ultimately people who advocate change would definitely like to have BJP in power whether this change is in regard to development or in regard to India’s relation with Pakistan or in regard to finding a solution of old standing issues like terrorism and poverty.
India is a shining example of democracy. Common people wait in line for hours to exercise their voting rights against threats from all sorts of militants. Groups that do not want people to vote are those who do not care for people but for themselves. Voting and free expression in a democracy is a birth right, and therefore people should guard themselves aganst such elements. A country whose primeminister is a Sikh, president is a lady and the most powerful leader Sonia is Italian – a true test of Democracy. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians are all together in this test of democracy.
Probable scenario is a hung parliament. I won’t be surprised if BJP (not NDA) comes as the single largest party with Congress as close second ( this time it’s so tight that accurate prediction is impossible). But it would be impossible for BJP to form government as it would be difficult for them to get support from regional parties (AIDMK may switch side from 3rd front to NDA). For congress it would be easier to garner support from the regional parties as well as left (lefts strength is going to be reduced to a great extent). Regional parties from Bihar and UP are going to demand larger share of the pie in return of supporting Congress. That means more minister from Mr. Laluprasad Jadavs RJD, Lokjanshakti and Swamajbadi party (I dont know why they call them socialist->Swamajbadi). As a result the new government has to be populist. In case Congress does not require Lefts support Congress would follow neoliberal economic agenda with much more economic liberalization and privatization. If NDA comes to power same economic policy would be pursued. Regarding terrorism which intern indirectly related to relation with Pakistan will remain high in agenda of government. If there is no major terrorist activity for 1-2 years relationship with pakistan may start improving. Government would remain worried about militant activities in and around SWAT. Relationship with USA would remain warm whoever comes to power.
In case 3rd front comes to power (remote chance) scenario would be totally different.
There are just too many parties and candidates vying for 542 seats in the Lok Sabha. The days of glory for the Congress party are over and the other national party the BJP cannot find any allies. Smaller Regional and Caste based parties enjoy some following in certain pockets. They will win seats and where they dont win they will cut into the vote banks of the main competitors causing upsets.
The main issue remains development – Roti,Kapda,Makaan. Party loyalty,Caste loyalty,Money Power,Muscle Power and to some extent local issues will all have a bearing. It looks like another hung Parliament with the smaller parties playing the role of King makers. The Marxists will lose a few seats with the Dalit leader Mayawati likely to improve her tally considerably.
Terrorism will be a major issue in urban centres where literacy rates are very high and could cost the Congress a few seats as voters want the centre to take a tough line against State and non State actors in the neighbourhood.
Coalition Politics is all about adjustment and compromise. Since no single party can form a Government post poll Horse trading is inevitable. The current Government lasted its full term of 5 years but odds for the incoming one dont look as good. Anyway this is the only time the voter has the Politician on the mat. The voter in India has always proven to be wise,lets hope he can be decisive.
We shia communities came here from India under the false belief that we would have golden era of Islam in the newly formed country. However I feel that the Muslims on other side of border are lot more prosperous in every imaginable field from science to art, films and sports. They command better respect internationally and they have a voice which we always lacked. On the contrary Pakistan as a country is democratic only by vague definition. Lets hail and learn a lesson or two from democratic set up right in our neighbourhood.
Wheather we have a hung parliament or not is not the problem at all. For the past 2 years, we have been dealing with hung parliaments and have learnt to cope. The fact is that regional parties, minorities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc) have specific issues that they, as citizens of India, have every right to voice and demand quick addressal of. If the national parties cannot do it, regional parties will.
In a democracy, the biggest asset is the power to compromise, and that is another of India’s great strengths.
Finally, our instutions are very strong and robust. It really does not matter who becomes the PM or who forms the government. BJP, for all its right-wing Hindu rhetoric, behaved in as secular a fashion as the Congress, when it came to power. Personalities can not choose to run India as they wish. India has its all powerful press, the Supreme Court, the Election Commission, The Planning Commission etc who are all powerful.
For all our poverty and economic inequality, we are more than just the sum of our parts.
I think Economy ,loads of jobs and last but not the least terrorism are the key issues on which indians are going to vote.
People will believe the strength of BJP’s leaders to tackle these issue much better than any one else and NDA will come in majority.
well, i believe that congress would be back in power. its not an easy choice, but it is better than either advani or mayawathi.
They have loads of dirty politicians just like we do.
But, whatever decides the elections, it won’t be their army or their “intelligence” agencies, acting to “save” the country from its own people.