Indian electoral process and political set up is much like us Indians - hypocritical in not serving the purpose it was intended for. We do not attack a problem head on. We do not like to accept change or shortcomings. We just tend to keep a status quo but like to posture to the world that we have adapted and/or changed.
As far as the new kid on the block is concerned, it will take a time to mature. They tried something new -great !! However taking on seasoned politicos is a different deal altogether. Political experience cannot be replaced by well meaning naivete, especially in a diverse, no holds barred and stoop down to gutter level environs as ours. Also integrity does not mean competence & a honest person is'nt automatically an able leader as well. As it is they are had a hard time managing a state the size of UT, managing a nation can wait for some time.
Logic suggests that you go with the leader with a good administrative track record - Modi for eg. here would be the best bet. 2002 riots will be a concern to people but to be fair to him, there has not been a communal frenzy for the last 12 years he has been helming Gujarat. The other parties have had really dubious track records themselves w.r.t riots/communal clashes.Modi has proved his development track record and his actions after 2002 do not suggest that he is going to fashion a theocratic state like an Iran or Saudi.His vision for the nation are heartening. Some of his speeches are refreshing from the vacous or below the belt slugfest that we routinely witness to. I am not sure how much you can expect from Modi if he wins, as we do not what kind of allies he is going to be saddled with while forming the government.
We have 4 choices for the 2014 LS elections - A leader with a solid administrative track record but hated for communal agenda, a party with 2 consecutive terms in power - with an abysmal report card to show for it, a bunch of regional parties(communists included) with a local fanbase and national aspirations and a neo-stragglers on the electoral arena still learning their electoral ropes.
Knowing the Indian polity, this could again be a coalition govt. with God knows what kind of weird combination. Politics can throw some weird bedfellows but Indian politics tops it. Everybody parrots about their holier than thou unique ideology, but the only ideology everybody seems to believe in is power by hook or crook, nation be damned. So expect the lowest human behavior - a naked, rock bottom display of greed and gutter level mentality to come to the fore.
Logic and analysis is not how we select our leaders.Performance reviews, vision, execution, efficiency and other metrics do not matter a jot. We have parameters like religion, caste, creed etc. to judge a candidate. So that ways, regional considerations will play a big part. Every major regional party boss has a prime ministerial ambitions even though they don't have a foothold outside their state. They are trying to cobble together their own version of third front. God forbid if these guys win a big share of the electoral. It will be a tower of babble out there with governments who wont last beyond a few months.
The grand old party cannot be dismissed right now, nobody rules a nation for 60 years out of it's 67 years of existence without formidable smartness and clout. They made some real smart moves like NREGA, Food Bill etc. over the years with the focus on the right electoral group - the poor. Now these are the people who do not treat the election day as a holiday and go out there and vote. They attach some importance to their franchise and tend to vote for the most populist govt, which aint wrong considering the fact that it determines their survival in an extremely overpopulated nation. The resources are scarce and the demand is too high. It is these populism and subsidies which help the poor survive. Congess almost clinched the third term but messed it up because of price rise.This will hit them hard, not the scams etc. as I don't think it matters, we have almost taken scams to happen when parties are in power. However in terms of what they have achieved for the nation is an utter disaster in the past 2 terms - inflation, decelerated growth and a pessimistic economy.
The grand old party cannot be dismissed right now, nobody rules a nation for 60 years out of it's 67 years of existence without formidable smartness and clout. They made some real smart moves like NREGA, Food Bill etc. over the years with the focus on the right electoral group - the poor. Now these are the people who do not treat the election day as a holiday and go out there and vote. They attach some importance to their franchise and tend to vote for the most populist govt, which aint wrong considering the fact that it determines their survival in an extremely overpopulated nation. The resources are scarce and the demand is too high. It is these populism and subsidies which help the poor survive. Congess almost clinched the third term but messed it up because of price rise.This will hit them hard, not the scams etc. as I don't think it matters, we have almost taken scams to happen when parties are in power. However in terms of what they have achieved for the nation is an utter disaster in the past 2 terms - inflation, decelerated growth and a pessimistic economy.
As far as the new kid on the block is concerned, it will take a time to mature. They tried something new -great !! However taking on seasoned politicos is a different deal altogether. Political experience cannot be replaced by well meaning naivete, especially in a diverse, no holds barred and stoop down to gutter level environs as ours. Also integrity does not mean competence & a honest person is'nt automatically an able leader as well. As it is they are had a hard time managing a state the size of UT, managing a nation can wait for some time.
Logic suggests that you go with the leader with a good administrative track record - Modi for eg. here would be the best bet. 2002 riots will be a concern to people but to be fair to him, there has not been a communal frenzy for the last 12 years he has been helming Gujarat. The other parties have had really dubious track records themselves w.r.t riots/communal clashes.Modi has proved his development track record and his actions after 2002 do not suggest that he is going to fashion a theocratic state like an Iran or Saudi.His vision for the nation are heartening. Some of his speeches are refreshing from the vacous or below the belt slugfest that we routinely witness to. I am not sure how much you can expect from Modi if he wins, as we do not what kind of allies he is going to be saddled with while forming the government.
Whatever be the result of the election, people are desperate to see better times ahead. That needs involvement and effort from the Indian citizenry which we somehow do not bring to the table.
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