Monday 10 March 2014

The state of the Nation: A status quo report of the country as it heads for polls

As India heads for the 16th Loksabha elections, it resembles a boat adrift. This has been the state of the nation ever since UPA began its second innings. In five years, UPA has managed to squander the favourable mandate it got in 2009 & has emerged as the most chided government in the history of the republic. Whatever good work it did in the first five years has been undone thanks to the rampant corruption, high inflation & falling investments. Just take a look at these numbers GDP growth that was at 8.5% in 2003-04, has come down to 4.5% in the last financial year. The fiscal deficit after a roller coaster ride over the years remains where it was ten years back at 4.8% .FDI that increased ten times during the period of 2004-09 has halved over the past five years. If opinion polls are to be believed, Congress is heading for its worst performance ever. The scion of the ruling family comes across as a well-meaning amateur who does not have any clue about how to turn around his party’s fortunes. To be fair Mr. Gandhi is paying the price for the lapses of the Manmohan Singh government. However, it is worth to note that he did not take much of an effort to evolve as a leader in his decade long stint as a politician. A mere look at his performance in the parliament proves how seriously he takes politics  absent for more than half of the time during the last Loksabha he just participated in two debates & never raised a single question. On the other hand, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has successfully projected himself as a no-nonsense development man who could deliver. The taint of his involvement in postgodhra riots that haunted him all these days seems to disappear slowly. Thanks to the UPA government’s disastrous performance & his over hyped record of accomplishment in Gujarat Modi has finally managed to strike a chord with the electorate especially the younger voters. He is the fickle minded Indian middle class’s new messiah; a certain Manmohan Singh occupied that position five years back. However even the most optimistic poll projection does not predict BJP to get a majority of its own. To capture power in Delhi one needs the support of regional parties. That is not hard to come by if one manages to cross the 200mark .For regional parties are ready to cohabit anyone who comes closer to capturing power ask Mr.Paswasn if you have any doubts. One thing is certain a congressman is not going to succeed Manmohan Singh as the next Prime Minister. However, elections are still a month away & a month is a longtime in politics. Picture abhi baki hai, mere dost.

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