Thrills of Democracy
What a turnaround! Couple of weeks ago I was contemplating on how LK Advani will overrule Vajpayee after an NDA win. But in my earlier post on the Chandrababu Naidu debacle I had talked about the choice of Chip and Chapati that a voter of today is presented today. I am happy that he has shown that he can be affected but not blinded by the glitter of colossal campaigns run on money and charisma. He has shown that carrying a mobile is not an indicator of all round growth. He has shown that like the English term “feel-good” the campaign BJP ran was on alien terms. But is it a mandate for Sonia and the dynasty rule. My notion is No. Accept it or not Incumbency is a potent factor, this government lasted a full term log enough to bore people. On top of that imagine ruling BJP minus the Temple fizz/Hindutva agenda, sheltering corrupt ministers like Judeo and Bangaru, making personal attacks on Sonia, leaning on an ageing PM who is un-approving of its party tactics. A foolishly run “til-gud” campaign, when your basic amenities are not guaranteed, who cares for as rising sensex.
What I am worried about are the power brokers from non-entity parties who will now strive to strike the best deal from the Samajwadi party to the Trinamul, from BSP to CPI(M). Who will be the PM then? My bet, it would be P.V.Narsimha Rao again (backed by a former PM Chandrashekhar, acceptable to all Congress ranks, experienced, no worry of stretching-on to another term and above-all acquitted by court from corruption charges; he is stronger than ever. What about Manhoman Singh? hmmm?
I would also think that two other things contributed to a BJP loss – their arrogance and their infighting.
I wonder whether Vajpayee’s comments on making way for a younger leader had anything to do with defeat.