The results of midterm elections to the lower house of the Indian Parliament make two things very clear: First, an overwhelming majority of Indians do not believe that their country is “shining” economically or politically under the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Bharatiya Janata Party. Many in fact think that the BJP-led coalition has blackened India’s face with an ideology based on a narrowly defined Hinduism. Second, India’s oldest party, the Congress, has regained some of its sheen under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
According to results for 533 of the 539 seats being counted yesterday, the Congress and its leftists allies have crossed the 273 seats needed for a majority in the 545-member lower house.
This is a stunning upset; this was not how it was expected to play out. In fact, the ruling coalition in New Delhi advanced the date of elections by six months only because it was confident of winning an even bigger majority. Their high hopes were based on a roaring economy and prospects of peace with Pakistan. Then there was Vajpayee’s personal appeal, unequaled by any politician in the country. By contrast the Congress under Sonia appeared in anything but robust health.
Still, it would be a mistake to treat the results as an outright victory for the Congress. As is the case elsewhere, the people of the world’s largest democracy too had voted against one party rather than for one. The anti-incumbency factor was very much in evidence. The Congress too has paid a price in states where it is in power, most devastatingly in Kerala where it drew a blank.
At the same time there is no mistaking the anti-BJP sentiment throughout India. The poor, who have missed out on the benefits of the much-touted economic boom, turned against the BJP. The middle class too was feeling alienated by the BJP’s pro-Hindu roots, especially after the horrors of Gujarat. The Congress represented this anti-BJP stream at one end, the leftist parties at the other. So whatever government takes power in New Delhi must reflect and strengthen this commitment an overwhelming majority of Indians have demonstrated to the ideal of secularism.
Of course there will be much jockeying for power. There will be arguments about which party/ leader should get the top post. There will be heated debate whether the economic reforms, which Congress began and the BJP carried forward, should continue in their present form. But all this must be subordinate to India’s need for a stable government committed to the values held dear by the founding fathers of the nation. India has proved that its democracy has not lost any of its shine. Now is the time to bring some luster to the fading ideal of secularism.
