04-09-2007, 07:30 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Delhi's message </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
People are angry with Congress
That the Congress would lose the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election was a foregone conclusion even before the first vote was cast last Thursday. In fact, the near-absence of Congress leaders of any consequence in the campaign indicated that the party had conceded defeat to the BJP. But perhaps neither the Congress nor the BJP was prepared for the final tally whose implications would be lost only on the politically naive and indifferent. True, the importance of a municipal election should not be over-stressed. But when that election is held in the nation's capital, it assumes certain importance and its results, given Delhi's demographic features, are indicative of mood elsewhere in the country, especially among urban voters. And, when the results show that the Congress has been trounced roundly - it won in 69 wards compared to the BJP's huge tally of 164 - the indications acquire an extra edge. Of course the voters of Delhi decided to punish the Congress for rampant corruption, poor civic services and the mighty mess over illegal construction and misuse of premises. But anger with the rotten lot that has been booted out is only one of the factors that has swung the vote so decisively away from the Congress. The other reasons are to do with issues that have come to haunt the Congress-led UPA Government and could, unless tackled without any further delay, lead to the regime's fall whenever the next general election is held between now and 2009. In between, the party will have to contend with Delhi Assembly election whose results only the foolhardy would dare suggest will favour the Congress.
Starting with the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh late last year, through the Maharashtra civic polls and the Congress's poor performance in urban constituencies during the recent Assembly election in Punjab, what has emerged is a common thread that binds the voter's mood against the incumbent Government at the Centre. And that thread is woven with strands of popular disquiet over runaway prices of essential commodities, a faltering economy best exemplified by mounting interest rates, a fast deteriorating internal security situation and a general sense of listlessness that has come to grip Government. It would seem that the crisis of leadership which led to the rapid collapse of the Congress before it lost power in 1996 is not yet a thing of the past. The Prime Minister is in power but is seen to be lacking authority; the Congress leads the Government but is seen to be slyly conniving with scheming allies, especially the Left; and, rather than lead from the front and thus make herself accountable, the Congress president is seen to be pulling strings from behind the visible face of Government. For all its tall talk and long agenda, the UPA Government has little to show as achievement either at home or abroad. Yet, those who presume to run this Government are loath to admit their abysmal failure; they would rather believe flatterers and time-servers. And seek to hide behind the fig leaf of bogus policies that promise quotas and special privileges to those who nurse imaginary grievances and are willing to trade national interest for votes. Not everyone, though. Saturday's results prove this point. Meanwhile, the BJP would do well not to get carried away by excessive triumphalism.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
People are angry with Congress
That the Congress would lose the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election was a foregone conclusion even before the first vote was cast last Thursday. In fact, the near-absence of Congress leaders of any consequence in the campaign indicated that the party had conceded defeat to the BJP. But perhaps neither the Congress nor the BJP was prepared for the final tally whose implications would be lost only on the politically naive and indifferent. True, the importance of a municipal election should not be over-stressed. But when that election is held in the nation's capital, it assumes certain importance and its results, given Delhi's demographic features, are indicative of mood elsewhere in the country, especially among urban voters. And, when the results show that the Congress has been trounced roundly - it won in 69 wards compared to the BJP's huge tally of 164 - the indications acquire an extra edge. Of course the voters of Delhi decided to punish the Congress for rampant corruption, poor civic services and the mighty mess over illegal construction and misuse of premises. But anger with the rotten lot that has been booted out is only one of the factors that has swung the vote so decisively away from the Congress. The other reasons are to do with issues that have come to haunt the Congress-led UPA Government and could, unless tackled without any further delay, lead to the regime's fall whenever the next general election is held between now and 2009. In between, the party will have to contend with Delhi Assembly election whose results only the foolhardy would dare suggest will favour the Congress.
Starting with the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh late last year, through the Maharashtra civic polls and the Congress's poor performance in urban constituencies during the recent Assembly election in Punjab, what has emerged is a common thread that binds the voter's mood against the incumbent Government at the Centre. And that thread is woven with strands of popular disquiet over runaway prices of essential commodities, a faltering economy best exemplified by mounting interest rates, a fast deteriorating internal security situation and a general sense of listlessness that has come to grip Government. It would seem that the crisis of leadership which led to the rapid collapse of the Congress before it lost power in 1996 is not yet a thing of the past. The Prime Minister is in power but is seen to be lacking authority; the Congress leads the Government but is seen to be slyly conniving with scheming allies, especially the Left; and, rather than lead from the front and thus make herself accountable, the Congress president is seen to be pulling strings from behind the visible face of Government. For all its tall talk and long agenda, the UPA Government has little to show as achievement either at home or abroad. Yet, those who presume to run this Government are loath to admit their abysmal failure; they would rather believe flatterers and time-servers. And seek to hide behind the fig leaf of bogus policies that promise quotas and special privileges to those who nurse imaginary grievances and are willing to trade national interest for votes. Not everyone, though. Saturday's results prove this point. Meanwhile, the BJP would do well not to get carried away by excessive triumphalism.
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