General Elections in India: Resounding Victory for the BJP

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BJP, General Elections in India, Indian National Congress, Narendra Modi

Yesterday was a momentous day as we watched with excitement the results of the long drawn out General Elections in India pouring in. The results astounded many supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including me, which fought the campaign under its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. I had expected the BJP to do well predicting that it could get 265 Lok Sabha seats on its own and about 320 seats with its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA.)

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Ah, our politicians!

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Arvind Kejriwal, Azam Khan, General Elections in India, Indian Army, Kargil War, Sonia Gandhi

One politician tries to bring the poison of communal passion into the hallowed portals of the Indian Army, another declares her wealth to be far less than one would imagine considering her stature over the decades, and the third was slapped by one of his own party men, not the first time either that this has happened. The General Elections 2014 are already here and indeed some parts of the country many of our huge population have already exercised their franchise.

My View of India’s General Elections (1951-1977)

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General Elections in India, India, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, The Emergency in India

I know at least two people who were born in India, not just on August 15 but on August 15 of 1947. You can quite easily guess what they were named. “Swatantra” means “freedom” so these boys were named Swatantran and Swatantra Kumar reflecting how this sentiment held sway both in the South and the North of India. They entered a world when India became independent after decades under the British Raj. We then became a democratic Republic in 1950 and started having General Elections, usually once in 5 years.