Election Results – Goldilocks’ Choice

The elections are over and Mr. Singh has anointed his council of ministers. The council can claim of many capable hands and the process of selection was more on merit than on horse-trading. This was possible only because one single thing; the majority that Congress got which was neither too big nor too small. ‘Just right’, as Goldilocks would murmur.

If the majority for Congress was a sweeping majority like the one Rajiv Gandhi got the hubris of many within and the complete inability of the opposition would have been too risky.

If the majority was like the last time or less, a government would have been possible only by pandering to the extremely limiting demands of many small groups and progress would have let even a snail to feel superior.

These thoughts came to my mind immediately after the results were declared. Before I called this ‘Just Right’ I decided to wait till the process of ministry formation was complete and the credibility of the process has given me the confidence to think aloud.

This election has also thrown up many surprises. The urban intellectuals had concluded that we are going to have a hung parliament. They have been so taken aback at this surprise and I could hear the conspiracy theorists asserting that the electronic voting machines were rigged.

But then, weren’t we all surprised in the last election too. Many were almost sure that the ‘India Shining’ would bring back the incumbent BJP.

Even Indira Gandhi’s coterie thought so about the election during the emergency time.

Then the other pet theory is the theory of anti-incumbency wave. Yes we have seen that in many elections. Kerala witnesses this at every alternate election.

Many of such theories seem to be oversimplification and results from the compulsion to look smart with one-line summaries.

But our electorate (in spite of the abdication of the educated middle class) seems to come with more rational choices again and again.

It showed this power when it defeated the Congress all around the country at the time of emergency. At the same time the outstanding performance of the C Achutamenon ministry in Kerala before and during the emergency ensured a total win for this coalition when the Congress was taking a hit in rest of the country.

Sheila Dixit in Delhi has been able to repeatedly overcome the so called anti-incumbency wave.

The popularity enjoyed by Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Patnaik in Orissa and Modi in Gujarat is on account of only one reason. They seem to be faring better than most when it comes to their performance in governance.

If we look at a little deep, the current election results, was supported by not just the better performance of Dr. Singh, but also by the performance issues of many state governments. Kerala, West Bengal, UP etc are some live examples.

All this goes to show that if any government demonstrates that it can perform and perform for the benefit of many and not just few, the democratic process that brings about the wisdom of the crowds will facilitate a better outcome. That is also my reason for the continuous optimism in spite of the filth, the muck, the corruption that we mostly see around.

Dr Singh has also taken a position that his focus will be on performance and results.
It is here that I repeat my call to my fellow educated middle class brethren who are happy to retire to an armchair with glass of single malt, xxx or even a lassi to give free advices to get in and participate. No need to stand for election. Even if you have not voted it doesn’t matter. You can play an active role in the process of opinion building, whistle blowing or supporting those who take active role and a lot more. Even Face book and LinkedIn are good enough tools.