By Wu Qiang
NEW DELHI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- With the decisive victory for the
Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in Indian general elections, the
714-million electorate of the country have given mandate for a stable government
in the country for another five years, said analysts.
This will no doubt help the UPA carry on with its economic reforms faster
without worrying about the pressures from the Left parties, and contribute
largely to South Asia's stability in the wake of last November's Mumbai terror
attacks, said the analysts in the wake of the near landslide victory for the
Congress and the UPA it is leading.
According to the political analysts, Congress is in fact expected to grab
some 190 seats on its own right, and the UPA will altogether get more than 250
seats.
The shortfall for reaching the 271 seat absolute majority for forming a
government will be met with help from some "not-so-demanding" myriad regional
allies, said analysts.
And, the final results will be crystal clear latest by Sunday morning as
counting is continuing for the 543-seat parliamentary seats across the country.
"Congress-led coalition's win clearly spells out people's mandate for a
government which will be able to steer the country when the whole world is going
through an economic turbulence. People know who to vote into power in these
times of recession. They want a stable government which will not buckle under
pressures from the Left parties which are averse to economic reforms," said
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, a Delhi-based political analyst.
Moreover, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an able economist, also played a
key role in the UPA's win.
"In these times of uncertainty, the voters know who to vote in to power.
Singh can handle the Indian economy better than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, as the former is an apt economist.
People want a prime minister who thinks about the country," said Ajay Singh, a
senior political science teacher with a reputed Indian university.
"This is also a vote for leadership -- Congress President Sonia Gandhi and
Manmohan Singh's leadership. Both of them have given good leadership to the
country. Moreover, major security concerns over growing instability in South
Asia, particularly in Pakistan with whom relations virtually strained after last
November's terror attacks, and the Congress can play a key role in maintaining
the regional stability," he added.
Another leading psychologist, K.K. Dutt, has also hailed UPA's victory as
"an excellent one".
"This will be a stable government now. I think it's clear this government
will last a full term," he said. People realized the need for a stable
government not only for India but for South Asiaas well, he added.
Not only stability, many have claimed that Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi also
played a key role in garnering the support of the youth voters across the
country. The young Gandhi is also expected to take a key ministerial portfolio
in the new government.
"Rahul Gandhi's poll strategy paid off well. Youth voters want a youthful
leadership to come up and Rahul Gandhi must be given the credit for this. He had
worked diligently to help secure a large number of youth voters," said Y.K.
Aggarwal, a Mumbai-based political scientist, who predicted UPA's win.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP on Saturday conceded defeat.
"We accept this verdict of the people. When you lose an election it gives
rise to a debate within the party," said senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley.
The Left parties also accepted defeat. "We have suffered a major setback.
This is a victory for the Congress and its allies who will now clearly form the
government," said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of
India-Marxist.
However, thanking the Indian voters for voting the party to power for a
second term, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday told the media that the
people of the country know how to make the right choice. "People of India know
what's good for India," she summed up rightly.
