A Sigh of Relief!

I thought of a lot of titles for this post:

"Ache Din Aane Wale Hain"
"Iss Bar Modi Sarkar"

"Time for a new India"

Some more are running around in my head. But the most predominant emotion in my mind was - relief. When the election dates were announced, I couldn't wait for this day - the counting day - to come sooner. Now that it has come and is almost over, the feeling of euphoria has given way to relief.

As of this moment Modi is taking 268 colleagues along with him to the Lok Sabha for sure, according the Election Commission of India's website. In a few more minutes, that number will change to 280. This is a big relief, since to run a government - the central government or The Government of India - he needs only 272 members in parliament. Along with the MPs from his allies, that number is somewhere beyond 330+.

The trepidation and the excitement I felt yesterday when I penned the previous post were long gone - in fact they were dispelled conclusively by 8.40 AM this morning, when the initial trends started coming in. By 10 AM, we knew we were looking at a win beyond our expe ctations and fulfilling our dreams - that Modi and BJP by themselves would cross the 272 mark. It has now happened. 30 years after the last such event in Indian electoral history.

This is significant for several reasons:

1. For the first time ever, a non-Congress party has been given a mandate by the people of India to establish a government all by themselves. They would still need the support of others to enact laws or bring in amendments.
2. For the first time ever, someone with previous experience of running a state has become the PM. Narendra Modi has been Chief Minister of Gujarat for the past 14 years. He comes with that deep experience and most importantly, he is expected to provide the decisive leadership that was missing for the last 10 years. He has acknowledged that there is no one in-charge now and his first priority will be to take charge.
3. Congress dipped to its lowest ever tally - a paltry 44, lesser than what BJP got in the state of Uttar Pradesh alone, which is 71, with it's partner Apna Dal getting 2 more. Interestingly, to be the principal opposition party, 10% of the total i.e. 54 of 543 are needed, and the Congress does not have that many seats.
4. Several regional parties have done relatively well, The AIADMK has bagged 37 seats, all by itself, without any prominent alliance partners. Trinamool Congress is sending 34 MPs to Lok Sabha. Biju Janata Dal is sending 20 MPs. All these three parties have achieved powerful victories, but in their respective states. In other places, Telengana Rashtra Samithi has won in 11 seats and the fledgeling Yuvajana Sramiku Rythu Congress Party has won in 9 seats. However, all of them have been rendered electorally irrelevant, since BJP does not need their support to form the government. However, Modi has graciously reiterated again and again, including in his victory speech a couple of hours ago that he will need the support of every single MP from every single party to run this nation.
5. Several other parties have a much more sad fate, for they have been wiped clean or severely reduced. Bahujan Samaj Party, ironically, has garnered the third largest voteshare (after BJP and Congress) - 4.3% which is almost two crores large - without winning even a single seat. Their opponents in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party, has won only in 5 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal has won in 4 seats in Bihar, Janata Dal Secular and Janata Dal United have both won only in 2 seats. Nationalist Congress Party has won in 6 seats. The much hyped Aam Aadmi Party has won 4 seats - all in Punjab. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, National Conference, all join Bahujan Samaj Party in not opening their accounts this time.  

The analysis will continue to pour in. For me, it is time to step back, take rest and keep myself alert and aware - new fears replace the old ones and it is better that they remain in my head, than happen in reality. I hope to use my freedom to praise this new establishment whenever they achieve anything, as well as criticize them when they sway.

A new day dawns

... with hope :-)