Thanks for your feedback. If nothing else, the Congress party needs a "time out." Hopefully, Modi (assuming he is elected) can rejuvenate the Indian economy.
India’s Far Right Opposition Party Set For Landslide Win in Election: Poll
Analysis by Walter Russell Mead & Staff
A new poll by the Times of India released today found that India’s far right, Hindu nationalist opposition party, the BJP, will take home a record-breaking number of seats in parliament during elections scheduled for later this year. According to the poll the BJP will win 202 seats in the national parliament, its highest ever, and the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance a further 25. The tally for Congress, the current ruling party, is projected to collapse from its current 206 to a lowly 89, its worst ever showing since India’s independence.
How far Congress has fallen. Corruption scandals and poor economic performance have taken a heavy toll on the ruling party, which has yet to choose a candidate for the post of prime minister. The BJP, meanwhile, and its charismatic but controversial prime minister candidate Narendra Modi, are riding very high indeed. On Thursday the United States ended a decade-long boycott of Modi when the ambassador met him at his official residence in the capital of his home state of Gujarat. Modi presented a smiling Ambassador Nancy Powell with a bouquet of flowers before an hour-long talk behind closed doors. It was the first time such a high-ranking US official has met Modi since the State Department refused to renew his diplomatic visa on grounds that he was a serious offender of religious freedom in 2005, a sign that Washington considers “Prime Minister Modi” a real possibility.
But even if Modi’s BJP takes home as many seats as the TOI poll predicts, there will still be the problem of forming a coalition with India’s strong regional parties. To rule the government a party needs the support of 272 lawmakers, which means the NDA will have to make entreaties to other parties. It also means the coalition will be weak and, when it comes to getting the once-roaring economy churning again, its options limited.
Published on February 16, 2014 10:00 am
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