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Political Reforms
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Mantra of success in Indian elections
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Three Cheers for Election Commission of India
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Why the idea of Third Front failed
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Welcome the good governance agenda of the new Government
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Some
disturbing trends of 2009 Elections
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Why the BJP lost
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Electronic media turns no power light
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Good
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A new exciting life for Advaniji through Philanthro-Capitalism
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The
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Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. Courage is what counts.
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Editorial
Lesson
of 2009 General Election: The new India rises
The outcome of the General Elections 2009 has turned out to be most unexpected
and surprising. The print and electronic media, the psephologists and
the astrologers have all been proved wrong. Conclusion is that people
of this country have become more mature over the years, as the country
progresses on the path of democratic journey. Most of the people nevertheless
had a sigh of relief, since a relatively stable government should emerge
out of the mandate.
The younger electorate, which today number more than 250 million (below
the age of 35 years) seems to have voted decisively. The future belongs
to them and they want to create a new India, where the old agenda of ‘Mandal’
and Commandal’ (based on caste and religion) becomes irrelevant. They
want to create a modern India, which can stand internationally and recoup
its lost place of pre-eminence.
But what has really won in the recent elections? The clear winner is the
‘development plank’. 2009 General Elections would be known as largely
an outcome of efforts put in by some of the state level leaders in their
states in concentrating on development work and implementing schemes for
general public, particularly those from the disadvantage sections of the
society.
The second common feature of these elections is the element of surprise
for all the national and regional parties including the Congress (and
the UPA), the BJP (and the NDA) and most importantly for the left in West
Bengal and in Kerala. People seem to have had the final word and kept
the command in their own hands.
Yet there are a couple of trends, which may not auger well for the future
of Indian democracy. There is a wide split in the mandate from state to
state, where different parties have emerged victorious. This means that
next time around, verdict would not be any different, since there would
be incumbency against each of the parties. While Congress swept the polls
in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Rajasthan, the opposite happened in Bihar,
Orissa and Karnataka. Further, there seems to be no clean sweep for any
single party or any combination of parties, as it used to happen till
1984, even though Congress this time as a whole did better than expected
at the national level. Second disturbing trend is the rise of ‘Son and
Daughter’ brigade of the second, third and fourth generation politicians,
who have an unfair advantage in the poorly designed democratic electoral
system and against the principles of equality and equity.
We will discuss in detail the various dimensions of General Elections
2009 in this issue.
Yours
Sincerely,
Editor, IRRO
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