The 'pseudo-secularists' have won. And won stunningly. The small print in the triumph ("victory" is too soft a description) is breathtaking. Savour.
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winning team UPA
Manmohan's sincerity and some sound strategy won UPA this election
Smita Gupta
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ELection 2009
It's the dawn of a dark era for the BJP. The party has to re-examine its basics.
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Opinion
Left or Right, extremist politics cannot have a permanent place in Indian politics.
Ajith Pillai
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big players
Prakash Karat, Mayawati, Ashok Gehlot, J. Jayalalitha, Naveen Patnaik, Chandrababu Naidu
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Opinion
BJP's one innovative idea - black money — was too esoteric, too late.
Ashok Malik
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Opinion
The UPA has won a more convincing victory than I had hoped for: getting close to a majority on its own.
Khushwant Singh
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Opinion
In the end, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Kerala and even Karnataka made all the difference.
T.J.S. George
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Opinion
With the BSP, that is. The fascinating results in UP call into question the relevance of caste-based mobilisation
Zoya Hasan
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Uttar Pradesh
When he first mooted that the Congress go it alone in Uttar Pradesh, the pundits laughed Rahul Gandhi out and predicted a wipeout for the party in the state...
Sharat Pradhan
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andhra pradesh
"If the Congress comes back to power, give me credit; if it loses, hold me responsible," he had said...
Venugopal Pillai
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Opinion
Chiranjeevi. The future of whose Praja Rajyam is as uncertain as the speculation over its possible impact on the results
Jyotirmaya Sharma
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Opinion
But the lady changes her mind so often that you cannot take her seriously. Who is to say how long she will respect the new-formed alliance she has entered into?
Sunil Gangopadhyay
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West bengal
"They wanted to uproot us from our lands so we uprooted them."
Dola Mitra
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tamil nadu
Gobsmacked. And that is only one of the stunned reactions to the surprising verdict
Pushpa Iyengar
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Maharashtra
As trends became clear by afternoon, an irrepressible Raj Thackeray declared: "The Shiv Sena ate into my vote"...
Smruti Koppikar
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Opinion
This will yield a democratic dividend through the adoption of competitive good governance by all political parties, which so far have tended to outdo each other in competitive populism.
Rajiv Kumar
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Opinion
There are too many parties, too many leaders, too many analysts, too much alphabet soup—do we really need DMK, PMK, AIADMK and DMDK? Can anyone really tell them apart?
Jason Overdorf
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Bihar
Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradhesh
Saikat Datta
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Opinion
As a proud Hindu and a proud Indian, I feel vilified by you. You have reduced the great Sanatana philosophy to a Taliban-style Hindutva
Mallika Sarabhai
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Opinion
"Exit polls often go wrong," I said. "In fact, I have a magic machine that produces equally reliable figures." "Show," he demanded.
Saeed Naqvi
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Election 2009
Poriborton, Game-changer, Baloongra, Pappu
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Elections 2009
Why is Samajwadi Party's symbol the 'Cycle'? Why is Congress symbol 'Hand'?
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A cartoonist's wishing line catches a few implausibilities
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The 'pseudo-secularists' have won. And won stunningly. The small print in the triumph ("victory" is too soft a description) is breathtaking. Savour. For the first time, a Congress prime minister, who is not a member of the
Gandhi family, will enjoy two successive terms; and for the first time since 1977, a Congress government will be returned to power. In a TV studio on Saturday, a glum cheerleader for the BJP accused me of being a cheerleader for the Congress. Happily, this is not a time to settle scores or wisecracks! Verdict 2009 is an unambiguous, comprehensive and titanic rejection by the country of extremist politics—of the BJP and the CPI(M).
The people have spurned the divisive, negative, low, petty, self-defeating, erratic, irrelevant politics of God's Own Party. The BJP, which is very good and very swift at introspection, has much to introspect about. For the sake of the party, I hope the inevitable clamour for returning to Hindutva is resisted. If the BJP, already wounded, goes back to Ram mandir type mobilisation, the return could be fatal.
The proposition that Oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them, is in trouble. This time the Opposition lost unilaterally. Already, there is much soul-searching. "What went wrong?" is the chorus heard in the corridors of 24, Ashoka Road. Let me flag a few howlers.
Mr L.K. Advani's attack on Dr Manmohan Singh was a disastrous gambit. It provoked the prime minister to deliver some home truths. More crucially, the middle class (even those who are anti-Congress) saw it as an undignified and gratuitous assault on a decent man. I am not giving any secrets away when I say that Dr Manmohan Singh's personal integrity and quiet style are hugely admired across the country. I was surprised that Mr Advani had fired this particular salvo. A couple of years ago, Arun Jaitley told me that his party realised very early that going for Manmohan was counter-productive.
Not being able to identify one or two central themes was another blunder. The BJP seemed to be testing policies which would resonate with the public almost on a daily basis. One day it was Mr Q, then black money in Swiss banks, then good governance, then internal security, then dynasty, then Manmohan running to 10, Janpath.... When I met Mr Advani recently, he confidently affirmed he would fight the election on bijli, pani, sadak. Somewhere along the way, Advani's sensible agenda was hijacked.
The person who probably did the hijacking was Varun Gandhi. The contortions and acrobatics saffron leaders had to perform to simultaneously "support" and "disassociate" with the vile ideas of Rahul's cousin would have impressed a yoga guru! They reminded the country that a large section of the BJP leadership still approved of Muslim-bashing, while the moderate section silently endorsed it.
For the Congress leadership, Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi (with contributions from Rajasekhara Reddy, Sheila Dixit and Ashok Gehlot), this is a moment for unflamboyant self-congratulation. Despite some gaffes, they stayed the course and relied on the good sense of the citizen, who recognised that in these perilous times, India needed a steady, sober and experienced response to the multitude of crises facing the country, both internally and externally. With the global economic meltdown, Manmohan and his "dream team" were seen as best suited to overcome the financial turmoil.
India sends an urgent message through this election. The world's largest democracy, which embraces at once slumdog and real millionaires, remains firmly committed to secular politics. Our neighbours may be flirting with religious and ethnic extremism, but we have manifestly renounced them.
This result is, of course, a thumping victory for the Congress. However, the real victors are the 714 million voters of India. Therefore, not two but three cheers for inspirational Indian democracy and three cheers for the wise Indian voter. Without the latter, you wouldn't have the former.