OM NAMO SHIVAY

The world’s largest exercise in democracy just drew to a close. A systematically organized electoral circus, where all credit goes to the Election Commission of India for showcasing to the world a genuine and neutral conduct of the universal adult franchise at such a large and inclusive scale.

The outcome ascertained in a matter of days, undisputed and over analysed, we are all set for a new government with a new leader at the fore.

But there has certainly been certain aspects of this election which have set it apart from all its predecessors and gives us a new ray of hope about the things to come…

1. ANTI INCUMBENCY – While there have been many elections which have played out in the throes of anti-incumbency fever, the recent Delhi Assembly polls being a case in point, this one was much more than that. For the citizenry of India did not just bestow a mandate on someone who was an alternative to the incumbents, or to the most vocal critic of the existing government, but to someone who has a demonstrated track record of performance and delivery.
2. THE MANDATE – Not only has Mr. Modi been given a mandate by Indian voters, he has been given a decisive mandate. One where he does not need to rely on the whimsical support of coalition partners or accommodate the histrionics and middle age tantrums of regional leaders. It is a double edged sword, for he will have no one but himself to blame in case of his failure to deliver on the promises. He has to stand up and shoulder the responsibility for all that comes to pass in the next few years, for better or for worse.
3. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – It is the first time ever that the Indian elections have been won on a presidential format akin to US, with the PM candidate being the main draw for the votes rather than the party in question. I have little doubt that the outcome would have been similar even if Mr. Modi would have contested as the PM candidate for AAP or any other party for that matter. His campaigning methodology was individual driven and the people came out en-mass, with one of the highest voter turnout across country, at the back of his reaching out to them with concerted continuous rallying. This is even sharper in contrast when viewed in the light of the fact that he has no dynastic antecedents and is hailed purely on grounds of his performance as a chief minister. Nor does he have the tailwind of any religious or political propaganda, if at all he faces head winds on account of certain religion driven incidents which transpired during his regime as chief minister in Gujarat. Having campaigned purely on a merit driven agenda, he has succeeded in getting the mandate from the Indian voters and many dynastic leaders who have been entrenched in their constituencies for years have lost out to much weaker BJP opponents purely on the back of the Modi wave.
4. HARD HAND – We all will witness how Mr. Modi the Prime Minister will perform. Good or bad, these will be exciting times for sure. For he may be liked or criticized, but one thing is clear…he is decisive. He will make a move, whether in the domestic or in the International scenario, in the latter, hopefully undeterred by diplomatic pressures of ‘holier than thou’ duplicitous foreign governments. As they say, more is lost by indecision than by wrong decision…so we look forward to Mr. Modi’s decision making to begin and I am sure there will be a slew of decisions forthcoming, in the next few weeks, let alone the next few months and years…plenty for his supporters to cheer and his detractors to rubbish. We will not only bear witness to these decisions but also revel/suffer in their consequences. A heady era of decisive action is before us and this is probably the only thing that all quarters will agree on.
5. TERROR – No terror attack has been witnessed in Gujarat after the Ahmedabad blasts in July 2008. This incident was dealt with swiftly with the perpetrators being brought to book within a matter of weeks and months. The Modi Government dealt with terrorism with zero tolerance and this is in stark contrast to the Centre’s handling of the devastating incidents which took place few months later in Mumbai. It is not that, we as a country do not have the power or the means to deal with terror, it is that we lack the political will. I truly hope that Mr. Modi will at the very least work his decisiveness to eliminate all terror incidents from the face of India, and this in itself would be enough of an achievement, for the lives saved in the process would far outweigh any altruistic schemes that were launched by his predecessor government.
6. PM vs CM – There is certainly bound to be major differences between functioning as a CM versus a PM. One of the handicaps of a PM, i.e. dancing to the tune of a coalition has been alleviated by the Indian voters for Mr. Modi. The other one, i.e. dancing to the tune of the international community remains. The latter is exacerbated by the image of Mr. Modi that has been projected by the Indian media and political opponents by fixating on 2002. This has affected his engagement with countries such as US in the past and will be a baggage he will carry into his tenure as PM. However one hopes that he will deal with foreign countries also with a hard hand rather than cowering as a sycophant at their mercy…for as Indians we have no reason to be subservient to any foreign power, least of all any power that has different standards for itself than for others. Similarly, being a PM will also bring with it the burden of dealing with the federal structure of the government – taking states along, while implementing major national initiatives. Last but not the least, a PM needs to deal with sensitive and ticklish issues of foreign trade, balance of payments, current account deficit, inflation and the currency, things which a CM is for the large part unconcerned about. Between the international community, the divergent state governments and the negatively skewed macro-economic conditions, Mr. Modi the PM will have his work cut out for him.

All in all, the voters of India have done their job. They have given a historic and decisive mandate to a leader based on merits, not based on religious ideologies or party politics or dynastic overhang. The time has come for Mr. Modi to step up and for us to bear witness…

The poetry of the magical election is over…the prose of concerted governance begins…we are watching, with a sense of hope for India, a hope that comes with such radical turn of events, a hope that comes when starting with a blank slate, a hope that comes when you emerge from years of capitulation.

All the best Mr. Modi…for India’s sake.

© Anshuman Khanna

Published on www.anshumankhanna.in\blog

18^th May 2014