Vox Populi

When the people of India voice their verdict, the noise is deafening and its echoes can be heard for a long time. Just as well because, sometimes "it takes a loud noise to make the deaf hear". The 2009 election verdict has been sounded by the people of India and it has made people sit up and take notice and the deaf among them too are straining their ears to hear it.

The most fascinating aspect for me of any election is the fact that among all the cacophony of politicians the masses await in silence and then on election day deliver their verdict and finally on the day of results their verdict is sounded to the politicians which finally ends their cacophony and hubris.

This year's verdict was definitely for a stable government hence the total rejection of the third front "spoilers" and a rally for stable central parties which in this case were the UPA and NDA. However as one identified this shift and geared up to take advantage the other was blinded by parochial thought and missed the opportunity. On paper both the UPA and NDA had similar things to offer - same economic, foreign and domestics policies. So why did the UPA succeed in winning the election whereas the NDA lost out?

The primary reason i feel is the approach they took in connecting to the people. The Congress spoke of equitable development and youth oriented policies on the other hand the BJP raked up communal issues (read Varun Gandhi's speech, Kandhamal, Managlore pub fiasco etc) and in a disgusting way tried to make capital on it in the elections. Though the UPA had put up a decent performance it was not spectacular, hence the BJP could have highlighted the UPA's inefficiencies and made it a political issue. But they didn't and went back to regressive identity politics. The voter rejected these regressive issues and backed the Congress's development agenda. The BJP had a similar strategy in 2004 by misusing the Gujarat riots but it failed miserably. They repeated the mistake and the people too repeated the dose and handed them defeat.

Another reason was the fact that Advani knowing that this was his last chance at the top job desperately tried to create a direct match-up with Manmohan Singh and in his desperation made unilateral personal attacks and effected a personality contest. Manmohan Singh in spite of his perceived shortcomings was largely seen as a decent man who heralded the economic resurgence of India and add to the fact that Advani's own contributions to India polity were at best dubious made it a no contest as far as the people were concerned. Also, Indians do not like a decent man humiliated in public, hence this was a major factor in turning the people away from the BJP.

Also significant was the young face projected by the Congress in the form of Rahul Gandhi who inspired the youth not least in UP where the Congress made an astonishing comeback. The BJP did not have any such young face after the octogenarian Advani. Shockingly, the youngest face projected by them as a Prime Ministerial candidate - in the middle of the campaign at that - was a mass murderer!

A tight slap was also reserved to the Left wing comrades who in their zest for their archaic ideology kept India's national interest on the line. Thankfully their deranged adventure did not work. However the Indian people watched all their shenanigans and have now given a fitting reply by reducing them to their smallest tally in decades. One more party given a lesson to learn from the people.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So the winners have to be careful to stay grounded and not to gloat over their victory. Instead its a time for them to get their hands dirty in the task of taking the country ahead. The vanquished too have an obligation to learn the lessons thought by the people and gear themselves to serve the people better.