The ruling coalition has managed to win in the three states except a major voter backlash over a series of embarrassing corruption scandals from Tamil Nadu boys in Tamil Nadu.
The coalition fared worse than expected in Tamil Nadu, where voters punished the DMK over a $39 billion telecoms scam that paralysed the national parliament for months and hit foreign investment in Asia's third-largest economy. But the loss came as no surprise. It also lost Pondicherry. But it took two states from the communists -- West Bengal, where the world's longest serving democratically elected government was finally unseated, and Kerala. It also won Assam.
The victory in Assam is a big one. The voters of Assam has given the clear mandate and the message to the country that they are with the Congress government and all thanks to our great statesman Shri Digvijaya Singh ji. He, in true sense is the most tallest and the secular leader. His secular policies has paved a way fro congress in Assam.
Overall, the results were the first good news in months for the suddenly accident-prone government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The main national opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, scarcely improved on its scant presence in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, a sign Congress is still the party to beat ahead of 2014 general elections. The election results will lead to some stability at the centre now. It gives Congress more muscle to push through its reforms.
The victory of populist Congress-party ally Mamata Banerjee's in West Bengal may stabilise the coalition. But the unpredictable maverick, who holds the balance of power in the national parliament, will prove a thorn in the side of government economic reform plans.
Regional forces are again asserting their importance, and the Congress will have to make all kinds of bargains and compromises to fit them in. This is not a very good sign for a democracy as the Central govet will have to compromise on its agenda many times which comes as a hurble in accomplishing its tasks of serving the common man. Despite all these factors, the UPA Chairperson Smt.Sonia Gandhi has shown how the Coalition is led in true terms. She has managed all the partners so well with her vision and the balancing act. Another ver important factor which has come to the fore during the recently concluded elections is the victory of sizabale numbers of muslim candidates. ^0 from West Bengal, 36 from Kerela and 33 from Assam. This is a remarkable development which must be really worrying BJP and its think tank. This is the victory of the Secular forces.
MAMTA BANERGEE RISES
Mamta Banerjee, a 56-year-old who wears a traditional sari with bathroom slippers and lives alone with her mother, is the latest in a string of women in this traditional society. Millions of Bengalis rebelled against three decades of communist rule that left a moribund state economy and a leftist government stuck in a Cold War time warp. It highlighted how many Indians were keen to embrace more free market policies that have helped transform much of India since 1991.
The people of West Bengal have won their freedom today as said by Mamta Banerjee. The victory is of hapless people who have faced exploitation, violence, and discrimination at the hands of the Communists.
Jubilant supporters thronged outside Banerjee's house in Kolkata, punching the air, dancing and shouting her name and waving their tricolour party flags. They pasted green paint on their foreheads to mark the victory.
This result may also define how aggressively the left-of-centre government moves ahead with long-awaited reforms such as raising fuel prices and a land acquisition bill for farmers and industry. The loss in Tamil Nadu of a family-run dynasty may also be a silver lining for Congress, allowing Prime Minister more leverage over a weakened ally. The results were a gauge of the political temperature in states that jointly make up a fifth of the 545-strong lower house of parliament and will help redraw the political map ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
REGIONAL LEADERS WORK AS ROADBLOCKS
India's 28 states, with strong linguistic and cultural identities, have a high degree of autonomy and their leaders are some of the most important powerbrokers in India, often blocking policies by the Central government. West Bengal sends 42 lawmakers to parliament and its long domination by the communists is one of the biggest reasons India's founding socialist ideas retain political currency even after two decades of market reforms.
Mamat Banerjee's Trinamool party in West Bengal is the biggest coalition ally of Congress and holds the balance of power in parliament. Her victory may force the government to be more dependent on a mercurial partner opposed to several key economic reforms.
Analysts say Banerjee's victory will give her a louder voice when the government mulls raising fuel prices or cutting down subsidies -- measures that are key to keeping the fiscal deficit at the targeted 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011/12, when slowing economic growth may see a sluggish tax intake.
As the Union Railway Minister, Mamta Banerjee has kept fares untouched and expanded freebies. She has several times forced a deferral of decisions on raising fuel prices. Her party is also against more foreign investment in insurance.
In Tamil Nadu, the regional DMK party facing a series of arrests over a telecoms scam is the second biggest coalition ally and Shri Manmohan Singh may be forced to switch allegiance to the new winner, the regional AIADMK party, nearer to the 2014 election.
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