Amit Gupta/Reuters Congress Party supporters celebrated on Saturday in Jammu, India.
Posted on 05/16/2009 5:46:22 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
India’s Ruling Party Set for Decisive Victory
By SOMINI SENGUPTA Published: May 16, 2009
NEW DELHI — The ruling Indian National Congress was poised Saturday to soar to a surprisingly decisive victory in India’s parliamentary elections, sidelining small, regional party bosses and potentially diminishing the power of communists who had been largely responsible for blocking economic reforms over the last five years.
With the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party conceding defeat by early afternoon, the apparent Congress landslide signals the possibility of a stable and strong government in the face of stiff challenges: a sharp slowdown in economic growth, abiding poverty and instability in the region, including in Pakistan.
By mid-afternoon, the Congress-led coalition was projected to be leading in 248 of 543 parliamentary seats, according to the state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, with 162 for the coalition headed by the opposition B.J.P. A third alliance, launched by a collection of communist parties, reported a lead in only 60 seats. Final results were due later in the day.
“We have got the numbers now to form a stable government,” Prithviraj Chavan, a Congress minister, declared on television. A smaller vote share would have led to protracted and difficult political horse-trading with necessary allies and engendered a potentially weak and ineffectual government — a prospect that had worried political observers at home and analysts and investors abroad.
The incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to continue in office. Not since the country’s founding prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, has an incumbent prime minister finished a full five year term in office and been returned to power.
Congress’s appeals to the rural poor paid off, including a massive public jobs program in the countryside, higher government prices for staple grains, and a costly loan waiver program for indebted farmers.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Amit Gupta/Reuters Congress Party supporters celebrated on Saturday in Jammu, India.
I'm jealous.
Singh is a very good leader. The Paki’s will not be happy...but I am! It is very good to see India is moving in the correct direction.
Pretty unexpected win for the Congress and arguably it’s biggest in decades. The ironic thing is that most of the Congress’s gains came against the Communists, who will back to being what they have always been-the barking brigade.
That looks like Chaguanas, Trinidad!
” It is very good to see India is moving in the correct direction.”
I agree. Since dropping the socialist model for governing, India has poised itself to be a major economic power.
The rest of the world seems to be abandoning communism yet we are headed that direction with more and maore americans want it. unreal
“The rest of the world seems to be abandoning communism yet we are headed that direction with more and maore americans want it. unreal”
It is mindboggling, isn’t it? Only those who have experienced communism truly know how evil it is.
As well as those, who have PROPERLY LEARNED about how all “leftist politics” works, throughout the entire world.
Sukhoi, did you see Yechurys face on TV? Priceless. He is still dazed. I wish I cound see both the Karats’ faces too!
Somnath Chatterjee is calling for Karats head. Commies turning on their own - yayyyy!
Now they are irrelevant, no one except NDTV (owned by Brinda Karats’ sister) will want to interview them or ask their opinion on anything. They will not be missed.
We need India.
So Indian communists own the means of (television)production?
Future haven for American conservatives?
Not really.. the party which has just won power, is essentially run on an NGO, hippie agenda. The real center-right combine, the National Democratic Alliance, is who George Bush really got along with, and the people we really should be doing business with.
We sure do.
>>the party which has just won power, is essentially run on an NGO, hippie agenda
Uh, Okeydokie.
PM Manmohan Singh a hippie? Just becuz he’s got long hair under that turban, I doubt a former financial minister, architect of the economic rising tide of India, is one.
As a Sikh, doubt he’s a vegetarian, either, lol.
The “means” of TV production?
That’s some quaint Marxist rhietoric you got there. Quite the absolutist question. But, the short answer, no.
Just one channel out of dozens, and the political proclivities of family members can be rather trying.
And just one TV show out of so many.
>>against the Communists, who will back to being what they have always been-the barking brigade.
Back to no bite now, too, thank you very much.
All in all, a good show, finally a real decisive outcome.
...sidelining small, regional party bosses and potentially diminishing the power of communists who had been largely responsible for blocking economic reforms over the last five years. With the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party conceding defeat by early afternoon, the apparent Congress landslide signals the possibility of a stable and strong government in the face of stiff challenges: a sharp slowdown in economic growth, abiding poverty and instability in the region, including in Pakistan.
The Commmies goofed up from the moment Karat took the reins-He’s probably not even won a high school election. They had a chance to live up to their claims to be different-but their policies at the centre and in West Bengal exposed them. To be honest, all the losers in this election need to start reinventing themselves-parties like the Congress,DMK and even the JD-U did just that and reaped the dividends.
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