Mota tries his political hat

India held its 15th general elections recently.This was a historic election,which saw the end of a lot of things and the birth of some others.Here's my take on the elections.

In many ways, these elections were about the letter M: issues or persons with names starting with the letter M were either affected or affecting these elections,with varying consequences.Some people or issues captured the imagination of the public,while some failed.Here's how they line up.
1.Mandir or Masjid: This was the first election in decades where people rejected divisive religious fanaticism of the BJP,Shiv Sena and their cronies and counterparts in the Islamic fundamentalist organizations and and voted for better governance instead of fighting over whether a mandir or a masjid should be built over a disputed spot.(why not make a hospital there?nobody talks about that!)It is a clear sign that the people of India are ready to move on;they seem much more concerned about making ends meet rather than a mandir or a masjid.India has spoken:no mandir,no masjid.Let us talk about Man (another M!)

2.Mandal,Mulayam and Maya: The resounding defeat of the parties led by Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati comes as a clear sign that people are trying to look beyond identity politics and wanting good governance,which after all should be the point of a government.They showed once and for all, that when poverty and suffering have no bias.A poor brahmin suffers as much as a poor Dalit,a hungry muslim suffers no less than a hungry kshatriya.Indian voters have rejected caste-based identity politics and gone for governance.Go, India,go!

3.Mamata:The story of these elections in many ways was the story of Mamata and the next M on my list..The volatile leader from Bengal whose primary aim in life is to drive the Commies out of Bengal made good use of the people's anger against the ruling CPI(M)'s arrogance, to further her own political fortunes.Her Ma-Mati-Manush slogan (didn't I warn you that this election was really about the letter M?) proved a much better vote catcher than the CPI(M)'s old secular rhetoric,or the proposal of forming a "non-BJP, non-Congress alternative government" or the even more ancient "threats of imperialist take over by the United States" (FYI Mr Karat: The United States of America has its own fair share of problems with its meagre 300 million people than to worry about taking over a nation of over 1 billion.The Congress' masterstroke in these elections was to admit that they have not been able to fulfull all their promises,but given a second chance they would try to do better.While the Congress focused on whatever "successes" they have had in the last 5 years,the CPI(M) national agenda was focusing more on "providing an alternative Non-Congress secular government",which to many Indians made us look no better than mamata, who's only agenda is to capture power in Bengal by driving the Left out of Bengal.if we criticize Mamata for being power hungry, we should have taken care to project ourselves as a performing credible party and government which puts people first,rather than talk about the Indo-US nuclear deal which most people in India could not care less about.Somewhere in the "secular" and "imperialist" rhetoric,the real message of the CPI(M) got lost.

4.Manmohan: At the end of these elections,if there is somebody who is having the last laugh,it has to be Manmohan Singh.The US Presidential style personal attacks against the incorruptible,erudite Prime Minister backfired on the BJP as the soft,gentle sardar with dual degrees from Oxford and Cambridge towered over the so-called Iron Man.The Gujarat Chief Minister's (incidentally, yet another M)diatribe against the Muslims or the country's first family did not reap rewards as the electorate,tired of politicians, prefered a non-political technocrat over a Swayamsevak,a CEO over a self-styled Iron Man.Way to go,India.

In the final analysis, this was a watershed election in India's history.The world's largest democracy showed yet again,why it is still the best hope for democracies all round the world.In the ten seconds this country's poorest man gets to press the button on the electronic voting machine,he has the last laugh.For ten seconds,he becomes the most powerful man in the world.He chooses his country's destiny.He chooses performance over rhetoric,governance over hatred.He knows very well what he is doing.He has grown up.He has matured.That is why my story about the letter M ends with a tribute to the real M of this exercise.The common MAN.