A Turn Around:

Dec 09/2013: The Congress has taken a major beating as the results of four of the five states up for polls showed Sunday. In Delhi, three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, on whom the party banked for support, has herself faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of a new entrant to politics, and the party’s strength in the Assembly has been reduced to 8 in a House of 70 which is a stunning reversal of fortunes. In Rajasthan, the Congress has been thrown out of power.

The results in Delhi and Rajasthan are significant. One argument is that the anti-incumbency factor worked against the Congress in the two states. States like Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka had been witnessing change of governments with each election, with the ruling party giving way to the Opposition. In these states, competition between two parties whether national or regional in character is an obvious phenomenon. In a state like Tamil Nadu, where the fight is between the AIADMK and DMK, national parties are not finding any space for a long time. In the case of Delhi, this time, unlike in the past, a regional entity – the Aam Aadmi Party—has come to the fore, bleeding the ruling Congress profusely and voting it out of power while bashing the ego of the BJP. The Aam Aadmi party’s success shows that where a third party exists, national parties are unwelcome. It could imply that in the coming General Election, regional parties may be compelled to play a major role.

To say that the anti-incumbency factor is working across the country today, will be an error of perception. In Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh it has been proven beyond doubt that people stood with the party in power. In the past, both Orissa and Gujarat had proven that anti-incumbency was not a factor at the hustings. Ruling parties can hope to repeatedly get voted back to power if there is no other proper alternative and also that they have offered good governance.

Significantly, the Indian electorate is proving that it is not easy, anymore, to win votes by freebies alone. This is possibly a clear message in this round of assembly polls. In what should be seen as a maturing of the democratic process in this country, people are now showing their preference for good governance over and above attempts by political parties of trying to please at an inpidual level.

Take for example the case in point of Rajasthan. In the past one year, the Congress government of that state had launched a series of populist schemes with a view to winning the assembly polls, but none of these helped the Ashok Gehlot ministry. Subsidized food items and electricity connection to every family might benefit people, but they now see through the game involved in it.

The so called illiterate people of these states have made their preference clear for better governance and exercised their franchise accordingly. They made it clear that votes are not a purchasable commodity through flaunting welfare scheme. If politicians understood the message that came out of these elections, it could help their lot.

Fulfilling the need of the poor must be first priority. However, the people’s expectations from a government do not stop at that. They now are obviously aspiring for more. Clean and efficient governance has become a need of the hour. It is important that politicians take heed and not look the other way round. They should be the first to know the value of our democratic system, wherein good governance has become the main responsibility. Those who make a fine balance between realizing the hopes, aspirations and requirements of the people are sure to succeed at the polls.

The rout of the Congress was also due to an over-estimation of its strengths and a complacence that has crept into the party’s style of functioning. In the last ten years, the Congress-led UPA government has not even made an effort to fulfill the aspirations of the people, and it sought to find a way out of its growing unpopularity by introducing legislations like the food security bill. The present elections showed the people rejected such devious means to political success. Similar is the case with the communal violence bill framed by the government, which has an anti-Hindu shade to it. If the idea is to win Moslem votes, that too may become a non starter. Such actions show there is no attitudinal change in the Congress, even as its rival BJP is bent on encashing on such moves. Non-Hindu Indians would also prefer good governance and may not want this mayhem to go on forever.

For quite some time now, the Congress is piding this country with its religion and caste-based agenda. It may benefit it to an extent and help win some seats in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, but it seems to have its negative repercussions in other areas. The more it tries to woo people on communal lines, the more the benefit for its rivals like the BJP. Even an ordinary comment by Narendra Modi gets discussed at length by at least 50 Congress leaders across the spectrum. This demonstrates the ridiculous manner the Congress is operating. 

The Aam Aadmi party in Delhi has emerged as a major contender for power in the capital. It showed that by raising its cudgels against Mukesh Ambani and other large money bags and be honest in its activities it can create a political space for itself. While Narendra Modi as well as the Congress bat for the Ambanis and Tatas and large industrialists, the AAP could be a harbinger of new indications which prove that the old style of excessive use of money and muscle power, extensive use of vehicles-posters-banners and such other costly tricks have, to some extent, come to an end. It has also proven that wherever there is a third way out from the binary politics of Congress and BJP, people opt for that third option. This may imply a greater opportunity for the third front in the 2014 general election.