Single-minded voters and others

ONCE UPON A time, the right to rule over people was a divine right.

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That notion has been discarded in most countries of the world. Other systems of government have replaced the monarchy. Democracy is one such system. It is a human invention that allows citizens of a State to change their rulers through a vote. Winston Churchill once said that“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others." India chose democracy despite all its faults. Among different democratic systems, we chose the ‘first past the post system' despite its sometimes bizarre outcomes.

Punjab, UP, and Goa

We have just witnessed the results of elections in five states that are as different as the five fingers of a hand. I followed the course of the elections in three of the five states and shall therefore restrict my observations to those states.

Elections were held in UP, the most populous state with an Assembly of 403 legislators; in Punjab, a middle-size (117 seats) but a turbulent border state; and in Goa, the smallest state, with only 40 legislators. The common thread in the election narrative in the three states was change vs continuity. By and large, the BJP was the protagonist of continuity, the Congress (and AAP in Punjab) the protagonist of change. The outcome: continuity trumped over change, except in Punjab. The undisputed winner was the BJP.