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THE REAL WINNER IN INDIAN ELECTIONS BY PATRICK JONAS
WHO is the real winner in the recent elections in India? Not Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Not Mrs Sonia Gandhi, whose win by more than 300,000 votes was the largest by any candidate. It's Mr Chandrababu Naidu, the lap top-toting Chief Minister of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Mr Naidu, who is an admirer of SM Lee and who wants to model development plans after Singapore, has won a double battle. His Telugu Desam Party (TDP) not only swept the state assembly polls but also won 29 parliamentary seats. His party won 180 of the 294 seats in the assembly. This sees Mr Naidu, 49, back as the kingmaker in India's political scene. In last year's elections, the TDP won only 12 seats. Now, with 29 seats, it can break the BJP government. The BJP and its allies have 298 seats. Remove the 29 seats of the TDP and what is left is 269 seats, which fall short of the 273 required to have a majority in Parliament. No other partner has so many seats to potentially bring down the government. However, Mr Naidu is not in the mould of his southern neighbour, Ms Jayalalitha of Tamil Nadu, who brought down the previous BJP government by withdrawing support. CLEVER TACTICS Mr Naidu gets what he wants without threatening the BJP openly. He is one of the shrewdest politicians in India. When elections were announced, the BJP roped in a host of parties to form the National Democratic Alliance. Mr Naidu's TDP agreed to join the alliance at the last moment but fought the elections under its own manifesto. He likes to keep the BJP guessing. After the results were announced, his party was the last to send in its letter to the President extending support to the BJP. However, it is believed he will give support only from outside the BJP, without becoming a part of the government. This way, he can get what he wants for his state - without getting any of the blame if the new government makes mistakes. |
