Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Some semblance of sense

Finally, the election resluts are out! And they have been surprisingly pleasant.
Out of the five states that saw the results of their vote come out on Monday, December 8, what matters most to me is Delhi. Yes, Mizoram, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and MP are equally important important in the national sense but Delhi is what affects me directly. So in many ways I am happy that Congress won in Delhi and we have Sheila aunty back as our CM (prospective CM). And considering this is the first time I voted and that too for the winning candidate, I am doubly pleased with the result.
Anyhow, what stands out with these results is that largely people have voted for development and honest governance. Take Delhi for instance. Sheila aunty has actually done considerable work on her vision of making Delhi a world class city (yes yes she has made some very insensitive comments at inappropriate times but she has accepted her mistakes). We have a highly improved transport system (I shall leave BRT out of this discussion and focus solely on the modes of transport), a far cleaner city thanks to CNG, more transparent and accountable education system in the city. In the run up to the elections, BJP ran a campaign that showed no vision, no plan for the city if they were voted to power. They singularly concentrated their campaign to highlight the 'failures' of the Congress government and since they had lost the 1998 elections to onions, this time they decided to turn the tables on Congress with tomatoes!! Thankfully, people saw the larger development and voted for a clean leader who is willing to admit her mistakes and doesn't seem to take her position for granted.
So, all in all, I am very happy that my sister will not be leaving the city, which she would have done had mr. V K Malhotra become the CM. And I am even happier that my city will have a government that acts on its promises(this could be a double edged sword..)
Sheila aunty ki jai ho :)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not totally convinced with your point about the development aspect of the congress government. Most of the development that the congress has shown was actually a BJP initiative. Take the Delhi Metro, which we are so proud of today. It was approved by the BJP government. Moreover projects like BRT (because of which I and many others suffer everyday) and other projects, like the flyovers have been mismanaged.people,especially from the lower strata, that didn't vote, like the rickshaw pullers, security guards etc. did not vote. Inflation didn't hit you and me like it hit those who earn less than Rs6000. The success of congress has been largely attributed to the choice of a wrong person from the BJP camp. Had a person like Arun Jaitley stood, I have little doubt, BJP would have had an upper hand. It is the lack of strong leaders that did it for BJP as opposed to congress that had people like Kiran walia and Yoganand Shastri
The developmental misconception (double edged sword) still prevails, and I think the next 5 years will prove (I hope not) my statement right.

Satish Bhat said...

Feels gr8 when u vote aint it :) Way to go !

Ruchi Mann said...

@satish:
it really really does :)
though i abhor the disfiguring of my figure..i am not too sure it was an unintentional act by the guy at the booth :)

Ruchi Mann said...

@Sushant Kumar:
Well Sushant I agree with you that the BJP might have approved the Metro project but in India, we have seen a lot of projects go down the drain at the implementation stage. And I am not entirely crediting the Congress government with its success either, in effect they have a relatively small role, if at all...but what I am pointing out is that atlesat the lady has vision. And that is fairly undeniable. She might make mistakes but she accepts them, and that is what sets her apart..As for BRT, I also have afced several hurdles because of it but my take is that the government has accepted its mistake and stopped construction of the corridor on other stretches...we can't really shy away from doing something new from fear of failure.
And I dont think you have your facts very clear on which section of teh society voted. The people from the 'lower strata' did and came out in huge numbers in these electons, and some in supporto of the congress government.
Another thing, Inflation is not a state or regional issue. It is, currently, a global phenomenon. And I think our government has done a great job in insulating us to some extent from the crisis.
As for the choice of a wrong candidate, yes that was a BJP problem. But what majorly attributed to their loss that the party DID NOT SHOW ANY VISION for the city in the years to come...none whatsoever!! That is in itself appalling!! How can I be expected to vote for a party which is not presenting me wityh what I can expect ahead??
And lastly, I think I have done justice with my vote. I am pleased that the Congress government is back with Sheila Dixit at the helm because I know that she has delivered for my city, and delivered much more than any other government of the past.
In conclusion, I just have one question...are you supporting the BJP against Congress..coz that is not what I am doing!! I am supporting, like many other voters in Delhi, the development. And the experts' analysis supports this.

Sushant Kumar said...

@Ruchi

Yup, I am pro BJP.

But as far as voting details are concerned, the lower strata did not vote much. Most of the people from lower strata are not delhiites. They belong to other states and are not registered.

Malesh Ponnusamy said...

At least you guys have a choice for voting a sensible pro-development government. Back in chennai the choices are limited to parties only. It is just a question of which is a lesser evil!