The outcome of the State elections, the results for which were declared last night proved yet again that ruling parties should not take the public for granted and that longevity of a Party in power was no indication of permanency.
The state election results in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu could well be a turning point in Indian politics.
Trinamool Congress Leader Mamata Banerjee broke the bastion of 34-year old Communist rule in West Bengal, while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AAIDMK) Supremo Jayalalitha Jayaram scored a landslide victory to dethrone Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from power in Tamil Nadu.
Following the results of the Assembly elections announced on May 13, Jayalalitha will become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the third term (she was in the post after the elections held in 1991 and 2001), while it would be the first tenure for Mamata in West Bengal.
Communists routed
Mamata’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is set to win in West Bengal elections with two-thirds majority by capturing more than 225 seats in the 294-Member Assembly to defeat Communist Party (Marxist) Government led by Buddadeb Bhattacharya.
Voters in Tamil Nadu did not disappoint political pundits by voting uniformly against the incumbent DMK headed by veteran politician Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
As per the present scenario, the AIADMK alliance might exceed 200 seats in the 234-Member Assembly with the AIADMK alone capturing 150 seats.
Corruption did not pay
The anti-incumbency was so high that most of the senior leaders of DMK were trailing. Corruption and concentration of power by DMK’s First Family seemed to have worked against them.
The greed to amass wealth while in power and distributing money to people during the election campaign backfired for the DMK. Further, the mood of the people in the culturally sophisticated Tamil Nadu was against the Ruling Party. People watched mutely the alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Army in their operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about two years ago.
Many believe that the DMK was more inclined to clinging on to power at both the State and the Centre at any cost, rather than facing the people by dissolving the Assembly.
On the other hand, the mood in West Bengal was against the three-decade old Communist rule, which in plausible terms had reversed the clock of development. Clearly, the people in this State want to catch up with more progressive and prosperous States such as Gujarat, Punjab and Karnataka.
Apparently, the style of election campaign worked for Jayalalitha and Mamata to make history in their respective States. Their approach was one of ‘real politick’ with ‘real image makeover.’
Jayalalitha kept her ego aside by forging a formidable alliance with the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) led by actor Vijayakanth who captured about 10% of votes in the State. Mamata shed her image of a street-band politics and made worthy of Chief Minister material.
Other States
In Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), expelled Congress leader N Rangaswamy and his Congress-led alliance with the AIADMK won 19 seats in the 30-seat Assembly.
In the North Eastern state of Assam, the incumbent Congress did well to come to power for the third consecutive term, winning 75 seats out of 126 seats. The astute leadership of Chief Minister Tarun Gagoi and division of opposition votes between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Assam Gana Parsishad worked in favour of the Congress Party.
In the Southern State of Kerala, the United Democratic Front obtained a slender majority by winning 72 seats, just two seats more than the half way mark in the 140- member Assembly. The Left Democratic Front, led by present Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had won 68 seats.
The results of the State elections might have some effect on Indian politics with the changing equations and the defeat of the Communist Party in West Bengal.
With the decline of the opportunistic regional powers and left parties, there is a chance that the growing liberal Indian voters might be attracted towards right-wing BJP and it alliances than the present left-centre United Democratic Front headed by Dr Manmohan Singh , when Parliamentary elections are held in 2014.
Balaji Chandramohan is our Delhi based Correspondent. He is currently working as a volunteer at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
