Column : The Great Indian Voter

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: It could not get better. The election verdict is stunning in its simplicity and in its definitiveness. Not only has the UPA been returned with the same Prime Minister but on its own it could possibly form the government without the Fourth Front and, think about it, without any support needed from the Left. If I had been a believer in God, I would have thanked her.

The UPA is a tighter coalition with only a few parties besides the Congress. The Congress is polling above 200, which is a landslide. But the others are the NCP, DMK— both from before—and the Trinamul Congress, which has been in and out. The allocation of portfolios can be on somewhat more rational grounds than last time. I do hope that the Prime Minister will not take any old family rubbish as cabinet ministers even from coalition partners, but insist on some proof of efficiency.

Indian voters have voted not just for the UPA. If you add up the Congress plus BJP on their own, they pool 300-plus seats together. This is a big rise on 2004. If you add up the UPA and NDA, they have 420-plus seats. Thus, the long tail of Indian political party structure has been severely chopped off. The much vaunted non-Congress, non-BJP option has bitten the dust. India can now go back to grown-up politics. At last, the Indian citizen will not need to flash his/her caste card to get public goods; but can access them as a citizen entitled to the best the government s/he elected can deliver.

For a long time, there has been a confusion prevailing in Indian politics about the state and the market. Even after 18 years of economic reforms, few political leaders claim the good outcomes for the reforms. Every one rails against reforms and blames them for poverty and inequality and shortfalls in healthcare and education.