various rambling thoughts: Two Cheers and an amber light…

The Congress has won in many ways its a welcome result.

Mainly for two reasons…

Firstly,

This is a signal from the population that they are tired of the parochial and narrow obscurantist politics that the likes of SP, BSP other regional satraps follow. We give the people of India less credit than they deserve every elections, which is why we were surprised by the positive vote for peace that was they gave in 2004 and again in 2009. Which is why we hear Mayawati threatening her party members that unless they concentrate on development, she would throw them out (one can only hope that she does not mean developments of her innumerable self-glorifying parks)…the people of India have succeeded in making the most boastful of politicos smell the dirt…Lets hope that regionalism keeps on receding (that would depend on the work that the Centre does now)

Secondly,

This result can be seen as a resounding yay for constructive politics – for development, for a better standard of life, for peace and harmony. The fact that everywhere the people have voted for parties which have done constructive work. This has cut across the party colours. BJP and Congress have both been beneficiaries of this. Delhi, MP and especially Bihar are apt testimony to this…As I said, we give the masses lesser credit than they deserve. They don't really want people whose agenda is temple building or who have hazy concepts of antique ideology or who want to abolish English for that matter. They want the opportunities to get to a good life and they will vote the party who will concentrate on that…

Now for the amber light…

Ask any graphic novel reader and they will tell you that every superhero needs an arch-villain to be a superhero.

Without a challenge, the best of the people and the best of the organization become sluggish and worse complacent, which is why the opposition in a vibrant democracy needs to be strong to keep the ruling government on its toes.

For all the faults of the Left, they were the few people in the country who can initiate a serious debate. Many of the achievements were successful because of the vociferous debates that the Left brought about – NREGA being just one.That would be missing this time.

The opposition to the Congress has been virtually decimated. BJP is lost in the woods and virtually bankrupt of ideas. Their appeal has died down and their militancy on the basis of exclusivist religion has takers only in some parts of Gujarat and Karnataka. Unless they can see the writing on the wall and reinvent themselves as a more inclusive conservative party, they will cease to be a serious contender by the next elections. The Left has been brought on its knees because their approach has been seen as obstructionist and based on an ideology that has not stood the test of time. Karat and Co still live in 1917 whereas the socialist rulers of world today – from Castro to Chavez and Morales have moved on to a more indigenous variety that has been tailored to their country. And of course the left supporters have been appalled at the party aligning itself with characters like Mayawati and Jayalalitha. The regional rulers have been mauled badly.

In this situation, Congress has the whole field to themselves and have no excuses not to perform. But this situation is the perfect recipe for lethargy and complacency after a couple of years or worse, dictatorship of opinion and action due to lack of strong opposition which may lead to wrong policies that would harm the country. That has happened with Congress in the past and can happen again…

If that happens, it would be a tragedy and the gains of the last two elections would be lost…

All we can do is wait and watch…these should be exciting and instructive times…