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| After polling, suspense over poll results shoots | | | With the last phase of polling for the Lok Sabha election having been completed on Monday one worry about the nature of campaigning and polling is over but the basic suspense over the party or parties that may have been voted to power is yet to end. By late evening of May 16 the picture would be clear and people, rather the world, will know whom the Indian voters have supported and who are those who have been rejected by the electorate. Whether voters have voted for a change or for the status quo is a question that may find its answer after the vote counting is completed Though exit polls have indicated a definite edge for the BJP as the Modi wave had gripped a number of states in India, still the suspense over which sides has won and which parties have lost will continue till the evening of May 16.Notwithstanding the fact that the entire poll process was completed without any major incidents of violence, booth capturing and rigging, the tone and tenor of the pre-poll campaign have left a bitter taste in the mouth of those millions of voters who are fence sitters. What seems to have hiked the element of suspense over the poll results is the number of political parties that are in the field for contesting the election. Unfortunately the poll process in India is totally different from the one in the USA and the UK. There in the west two to three parties are in the field and this way voters do not feel confused.
What compounds confusion is the presence of large number of regional parties in the poll battle. There are some political parties that have areas of influence in one to two states. In this category fall the DMK and the AIDMK besides those that are Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka centric. There are some regional parties that have extended their areas of influence to a limited number of states. These regional parties have made determined efforts for dropping regional tags and in doing so have set up their units in various states with weak vote bank. Still these regional parties have played vital role, from time to time, in the formation of Governments in the centre and in presiding over the fall of the Governments in the centre. And in the poll process, that ended on Monday, these regional parties had fielded several hundred candidates and among them are included BSP, SP, RJD, INLD, DMK, AIDMK, JD(U), BJD, Akali Dal, NC, PDP , LJSP and many others. And leaders of these regional parties have started putting their weight behind those engaged in the formation of a third front. This way the entry of these regional parties have added to the confusion and it is one of the reasons for making the functioning of democracy a difficult one.
And what has come as a major surprise is the entry of the year old AAP in the election battle. Early this year the AAP had registered its presence by winning 28 seats in the Assembly election in Delhi. That its leader Arvind Kejriwal headed the Government, with the support of the Congress, for 49 days is a different story. Now the AAP has fielded its candidates in about 350 constituencies thereby making a serious bid for making or marring the fortunes of either the BJP or the Congress as was the case in Delhi Assembly election. By winning 28 seats in Delhi Assembly it had forced the Congress to face a rout as it won only eight seats when the Congress had been in power for 15 years. It also prevented the BJP from winning simple majority falling short of four seats. When the AAP decided to enter the Lok Sabha poll battle in a big way it had announced that it may not join hands with any party for the purpose of Government making. Finding that its going may be a tough one Kejriwal has announced that he may support the third front. Though the poll results are to be announced after three days, political pundits foresee three options. One,it could be BJP led NDA. Two, it could be Congress led UPA. Three, it could be the third front which may get the support from TMC and AIDMK. One thing is definite. If the BJP led NDA wins majority in the Lok Sabha election it may be in a position to give a stable and strong Government. A Government by the third front may be a coalition of a number of parties under compulsion and not out of conviction. In case people vote for the status quo SP, BSP, DMK, RJD may demand pound of flesh from the Congress which could result in a weak Government. In fact people, by and large, want a Government that could check inflation, corruption and resolve the problems of unemployment and energy crisis. They want a Government that could ensure cordial ties with its immediate neighbouring countries, liberation from ongoing terrorist activities. A Government that could gurantee peace, political stability and ensure growth in the sectors of industry, agriculture and horticulture.
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