?Will Indian voters revive the world?s fortune?? goes the tagline for the BBC train, ferrying multi-platform and multi-lingual journalists, that returned to Delhi on Wednesday after providing extensive coverage of India?s general election 2009 across eight cities and more than 400 constituencies.
From economic growth and jobs to poverty and castes to national security, the journalists, who were trying to understand coalition politics, rural-urban divide and the ‘vibrant’ economy of the country, found that elections have become regionalised as people are more concerned about local problems than activities at the national level. And this, they say, could go on to make India a role model for the third world countries as economic development here started from the grassroot.
In urban areas, however, the issues were macro-level ? they found people worrying about employment and looking forward to a government that can ensure job security. ?Well, I certainly think it is, for example in Gujarat and Mumbai there was rising anxiety about the global recession. Although, few people and industry is confident that in medium and long term the economy would overcome the recession comparatively easily than other countries. India has strong financial sector and industrial and agrarian sector which is essentially beneficial to ride out the credit crunch,? said Marc Perrow, editor on board.
Although India is tackling the economic crisis quite well but it remains a cause of concern for many. Elections in India hold a lot of importance in the global arena as all eyes are set on India, projected to be the next power. ?There is a very deep picture and it?s like a political jigsaw as politics is very contrast in states. There are two trains like fast train which is largely urbanised, youthful, educative, digital and then there is slow train in vernacular languages, far less access to education, healthcare, transport and feel secluded. There is a need for the politicians to close the gap,? said Perrow.
Talking about the election trend this year, BBC Hindi desk editor Rupa Jha said, ?Even an ordinary person from the remotest area of the country was very clear what he wants, even if it is the caste factor he wants to vote for. The reality of Indian elections is that it is still decided on the basis of caste. It?s the most confusing elections ever and coalition and alliance politics has reached peak. The most interesting thing to see after May 16 is who will remain friends for each other and who become foes.?
?I met a lady who has been voting since the Nehru era but has not seen any difference in her life. So voters here would like to see politicians fulfilling their promises made during campaigns,? filled in Daud Aweis of BBC’s Nairobi team.
The journalists were quite happy with the electoral process. In few states such as Bihar they found more people politically engaged as they believe that the elections have the potential to deliver better conditions. Journalists from Somalia and China were impressed to see the robustness of Indian democracy and puzzled as to why many middle-class Indians still seem to be engaged in the political process.
The train covered cities such as Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna and Allahabad. Reporters representing 12 languages across 14 services tried to cover the Lok Sabha polls in the most comprehensive way for its international audience.
The route was designed in order to derive the slice of the whole country from the map. The journalists include representatives of BBC’s English, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Somali, Swahili, World News and others. The correspondents interacted with voters across different sections from urban to rural India and everyone has some expectations from the new government. The team, which began its journey on April 25, returned here on Wednesday after the 18-day-long journey.