Manish Anand
So, the nation goes to the polls to elect a new government. Poll hysteria will pick up in few days. The issues for the electorates are nowhere to be seen. The Lok Sabha elections this year are likely to be issue less. The edge for either of the two leading coalitions, UPA led by Congress and NDA led by BJP, is to be decided by the kind of "equations" that they forge. Even after 62 years of Indian independence, democracy here is all about castes, hence the pre-poll caste equations hold the key to the formation of the next government.
Regional parties, who have now mastered the art to milk the leading coalitions after they form the Central government, have sensed the ground realities. They know that none of the leading coalitions are showing signs of securing a clear mandate from the electorates. They have positioned accordingly and could swing either ways to milk them the maximum.
BJP's poster boy Varun Gandhi hogged the limelight for few days with his histrionics. He exhibited signs of desperation to come close to his cousin Rahul Gandhi, with his party allowing him to try his tricks. Five years back when I had met him at his mom's residence, he was the same restless teenager, as he is today. Then he had been badmouthing none other then the tallest leader of the BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the impression that the BJP should hand over the leadership to young politicians like him. He has not changed any better.
The UPA is showing signs of losing the momentum which it had been claiming after the Assembly wins in Delhi and Rajsthan. The Congress just seems to have got a little more ambitious then its partners in the UPA could have allowed.
Sooner or later the Congress could get into the desperation mode in the run up to the polls. The desperation is interpreted by political observers in Delhi as prelude to something unexpected.
The NDA on the other hand is far from having filled the vacuum created by the exit of Vajpayee from politics. LK Advani remains a leader of faction within the BJP. He has not grown up enough to set into the shoes of Vajpayee. This leaves the NDA much crippled. Even after the UPA left the nations to grapple with too many issues, Advani led NDA is far from capitalising on them.
The people could just leave the political mavericks to interpret their mandate according to their conveniences to cobble up a majority in the Lok Sabha to form a new government. It could just be that people might say in their mandate -- "over to the Amar Singhs, Mayawatis and Jayalalitas" -- to the coalition attempting to form a new government.
So, the nation goes to the polls to elect a new government. Poll hysteria will pick up in few days. The issues for the electorates are nowhere to be seen. The Lok Sabha elections this year are likely to be issue less. The edge for either of the two leading coalitions, UPA led by Congress and NDA led by BJP, is to be decided by the kind of "equations" that they forge. Even after 62 years of Indian independence, democracy here is all about castes, hence the pre-poll caste equations hold the key to the formation of the next government.
Regional parties, who have now mastered the art to milk the leading coalitions after they form the Central government, have sensed the ground realities. They know that none of the leading coalitions are showing signs of securing a clear mandate from the electorates. They have positioned accordingly and could swing either ways to milk them the maximum.
BJP's poster boy Varun Gandhi hogged the limelight for few days with his histrionics. He exhibited signs of desperation to come close to his cousin Rahul Gandhi, with his party allowing him to try his tricks. Five years back when I had met him at his mom's residence, he was the same restless teenager, as he is today. Then he had been badmouthing none other then the tallest leader of the BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the impression that the BJP should hand over the leadership to young politicians like him. He has not changed any better.
The UPA is showing signs of losing the momentum which it had been claiming after the Assembly wins in Delhi and Rajsthan. The Congress just seems to have got a little more ambitious then its partners in the UPA could have allowed.
Sooner or later the Congress could get into the desperation mode in the run up to the polls. The desperation is interpreted by political observers in Delhi as prelude to something unexpected.
The NDA on the other hand is far from having filled the vacuum created by the exit of Vajpayee from politics. LK Advani remains a leader of faction within the BJP. He has not grown up enough to set into the shoes of Vajpayee. This leaves the NDA much crippled. Even after the UPA left the nations to grapple with too many issues, Advani led NDA is far from capitalising on them.
The people could just leave the political mavericks to interpret their mandate according to their conveniences to cobble up a majority in the Lok Sabha to form a new government. It could just be that people might say in their mandate -- "over to the Amar Singhs, Mayawatis and Jayalalitas" -- to the coalition attempting to form a new government.
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