The results are out, and Narendra Modi, the PM designate of the Bhartiya Janata Party, is all set to be crowned the next Prime Minister of India. Times Now calls it the end of the era of dynasty politics and the era of coalition politics, as the BJP and its allies (known collectively as the National Democratic Alliance - NDA) race to become the single largest formation in the history of independent India. The spokespersons of the Indian National Congress (INC) sound either sheepish or belligerent as they stare at their bleak performance in the 2014 general elections. The BJP has made a clean sweep of Gujarat and New Delhi.
The INC faces the possibility of not even becoming the chief opposition party in the parliament. As all this is happening in India, and I am watching this telecast on Times Now, I feel as if this is history being created. For the last two decades and more, India has always had coalition governments. Now, it is all set to change. The NDA may not even need any more allies to create a "super-NDA".
What does all this mean for India? The stock markets have already given a resounding thumbs up to the emerging results. The SENSEX climbed above 25000 in early trades, and is now at around 24850. These are all-time highs and we are in uncharted territory. BJP offices all over the country are jubilant, as they should be. Congressmen are ducking questions, or answering them with a counter-question to deflect the heat off their own breasts.
The larger questions are what this means for secularism, what this means for the Muslims in India, what this means for infiltrators across the borders between India and Bangla Desh, and what it means for India's foreign relations with Pakistan and China. People are wondering what these results will mean for the Gandhi dynasty's future. They want to know how much time Narendra Modi will take to turn India's economy around and to reverse the horrible problems of corruption, terrorism, inflation, and other pervasive problems. There will be hundreds of other questions, but these are the most important big ones.
In the end, only time will tell.
The INC faces the possibility of not even becoming the chief opposition party in the parliament. As all this is happening in India, and I am watching this telecast on Times Now, I feel as if this is history being created. For the last two decades and more, India has always had coalition governments. Now, it is all set to change. The NDA may not even need any more allies to create a "super-NDA".
What does all this mean for India? The stock markets have already given a resounding thumbs up to the emerging results. The SENSEX climbed above 25000 in early trades, and is now at around 24850. These are all-time highs and we are in uncharted territory. BJP offices all over the country are jubilant, as they should be. Congressmen are ducking questions, or answering them with a counter-question to deflect the heat off their own breasts.
The larger questions are what this means for secularism, what this means for the Muslims in India, what this means for infiltrators across the borders between India and Bangla Desh, and what it means for India's foreign relations with Pakistan and China. People are wondering what these results will mean for the Gandhi dynasty's future. They want to know how much time Narendra Modi will take to turn India's economy around and to reverse the horrible problems of corruption, terrorism, inflation, and other pervasive problems. There will be hundreds of other questions, but these are the most important big ones.
In the end, only time will tell.
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