Pundits do rapid re-calculations after surprise outcome
16 May 2009
Pre-poll analysts, almost all of whom had predicted an unstable government with the smaller parties playing a major role, have been left with egg on the face, as the United Progressive Alliance has swept the Lok Sabha election. Now, most observers are calling it a clear-cut vote for stability, and saying it was the combination of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's policies and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's grassroots work that did the trick.
While the Congress celebrates the clear-cut verdict in its favour, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has lost in some of its former strongholds, is in introspection mode. BJP president Rajnath Singh said there was no question of fixing responsibility on himself or any other individual for the dismal performance of the BJP-led NDA, but added that the reasons behind the verdict would be analysed.
Singh, who was on his way to meet L K Advani, whom the NDA had projected as the prime ministerial candidate, conceded that the poll results were not up to the expectations of the party or its alliance.
The BJP and NDA were expected to do well in states like Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharastra but we did not fare well, he said.
President Pratibha Patil's task of inviting the largest party or coalition to form the government has been made simpler than it has been for her recent predecessors. Since the UPA has left its principal rival, the National Democratic Alliance, way behind, an invitation to the Congress-led alliance to form the government is inevitable.
President Patil will meet former attorney general Ashok Desai to consult on the formation of government.
