Random notes

Dear Mr Arvind Kejriwal, At the outset, my sympathies for the unkind hand dealt to you in the Parliamentary election results. Kindly do not get disappointed by these. We Indians have a habit of leaving incomplete loops even when the verdict seems to be conclusive. We never finish off anyone completely, always leaving a door open for the vanquished to claim his or her self respect and a chance to bounce back into the reckoning. Gain of 4 seats in Punjab is the door which the populace has left open, for you. It is easy to understand your disappointment, though. Not even a single seat in Delhi which was supposed to be your pocket borough. In Haryana, where AAP was planning to fight assembly elections, even dreaming, rather salivating, of forming state government, all candidates finishing 4 th to 6 th with less than 4% vote share! Even Yogendra Yadav who had begun treating himself as Chanakya of Indian politics, came fourth in Gurgaon which happens to be a part of NCR, centre of...

With the final phase of polling done, parliamentary elections are over except for the results. The exit polls are cluttering the TV channels discussing seats, voting percentages, swings & waves as if these are the final results.  The winners & losers in terms of parties & candidates would be become known only when the results are out on 16 th may and any discussion on veracity of exit polls is as fruitless  as churning water. However from the perspective of a young nation state, a democratic one at that, each successive election is an important milestone in the journey towards transparent, fair, representative, honest & progressive polity. It is important to assess the gains made & losses incurred for the polity, the democracy & the country after each milestone, celebrating each gain and mourning each loss. Also, as as usually happens, gains & losses are not cut & dried, black & white. Each positive comes with its own share of n...