MyVoice: Views of our readers 5th June 2024

Democracy stands up to stern tests

It is exciting as this election brings a spotlight to India, not only as an opportunity to present recent improvements but also to showcase its massive runaway for growth. The voters have decided that they will not be taken for granted. They want democracy to flourish in this country. The ruling party had a tremendous advantage in money. The mainstream media is pretty much captured in this country. The way opposition parties come together, and push this narrative working for the people, for the issues that matter to their daily lives, that seems to have resonated. The election result shows that investing in India is about much more than this election. Democracy stood up to the stern tests. Discussions yielded best results and the decision making will be more fruitful rather than going in lines with brute majority.

C K Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai

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The result has, for once, shattered the hope of ‘one nation, one party and one leader’ entertained by the Hindu Right and affirmed that India, vast and diverse as it is, is a multi-party democracy. With BJP-led NDA winning a narrow majority and INDIA emerging as a formidable Opposition, we can rest assured that the incoming government cannot implement the Hindutva agenda and hasten India’s retreat from secularism as per the dictates of the Sangh Parivar. It is clearly evident from the fall in BJP’s number of seats that the overarching appeal of Hindutva and the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have diminished over the years. Modi’s recourse to hate speeches seems to have backfired. To put it bluntly, the Indian electorate has cut Prime Minister Narendra Modi down to size. The reduced strength for BJP in the Lok Sabha has left Modi a reduced figure; it has given his ‘strongman image’ a beating, more so because the vote was sought in his name. Without an outright majority for his party that he keeps under his thumb, Modi will be less powerful through his third straight term, if he chooses to head the coalition government, as compulsions of coalition politics will limit his latitude to dictate terms. Indications are that Modi is keen on becoming the Prime Minister despite his party missing out on the predicted landside and falling short of a majority on its own. Rahul Gandhi has contributed enormously, by his principled stand on issues and his yatras for unity and justice, to changing the ‘mood of the nation’ and improving the Opposition’s tally considerably. The composition of the new Parliament will curb tyrannical tendencies and prevent authoritarianism creeping in. A strong Opposition and the ‘mercy’ of coalition partners needed for continuance in power augur well for Indian democracy.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

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The day of reckoning (June 4) came and gave a rude shock to the ruling NDA as it could not realise the “Abki bear Chaar Sow Paar” target. Leave alone crossing the 400 mark, NDA fell short of touching 300 mark. The biggest surprise for NDA came from UP followed by Bihar where Hindutva was expected to work wonders. On the other hand, I.N.D.I.A. made some significant gains and appeared to have given a tough fight. Now the NDA which is barely able to score the simple majority figure has to depend on its partners for survival of the coalition government. Apart from the anti-incumbency factor, the NDA seems to have suffered due to unemployment, high cost of all essential commodities and poor prioritisation of government schemes. The over confidence of all NDA partners in reaping the benefit of constructing the Ram Mandir was clearly visible and unfortunately the Secular elements amongst the Hindus abstained from voting. Modi needs to look out for the future rather very cautiously and should refrain from taking the electorate for granted.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

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Indian voters are not fools to hear anymore Guarantees. Without speaking to them about the various burning issues, solving unemployment, Petrol- LPG prices, rise in prices, the ruling party decided to precipitate communalism and announcing self as incarnation of God.It is now the accurate time to hear Jann ki baat since people of India has heard enough of one sided Mann ki Baath.

S Padmanabha Suryanarayana, Mattancherry, Kochi

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It looks like BJP has been elected as number one party and they will have to depend on allies to form the government. At the same time, the Congress led has also been given a mandate to keep a check on the government led by BJP. Ideally, if the parties show the megnanimity, it wii be a national government consisting of all major parties. Will the number one party BJP take a lead or as usual will they play various schemes to attract the parties to consolidate their power.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad