ISAS Briefs

There appears to be considerable interest in the outcome of the ongoing elections to the Lok Sabha (the powerful Lower House of Parliament) in India. The results are likely to be announced by 17 May 2014, and the fierce battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led led alliance and the Congress alliance would have concluded by that time. In the international media, the Economist and the New York Times have come out strongly against the candidature of Narendra Modi of the BJP for the post of Prime Minister, accusing him of condoning the riots against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, in his first term as Chief Minister there. English newspapers in India, including The Hindu, are critical of him. Nongovernmental organisations and activists, such as Arundhati Roy, have written strongly against him. Even newspapers in Singapore have been cautious about evaluating him even while recognising the economic performance of Gujarat. The Congress and its allies continue to harp on the secularism versus communalism theme, with Mr Rahul Gandhi of the Congress alleging that there would be communal riots if the BJP were to come to power now. There are also a host of regional parties, seeking to consolidate gains in their own states and hoping that the emerging coalition government at the Centre would enable them to participate in governance and power. As of today, the odds appear to be in favour of a strong BJP-led government consisting of a few coalition partners, but the Indian electorate has often proved to be unpredictable.