Post-poll India in seven smart words

When Narendra Modi is sworn in on Sunday, June 9, as India’s prime minister for a third consecutive term, just think of this seven-word jingle:

Modi survives, Congress revives, regional parties thrive

Neat, right?

It’s not really a jingle but a pithy, memorable and accurate formulation put out by Bloomberg’s Menaka Doshi.

In those seven words we have a full picture of the situation in the world’s most populous democracy after its six-week, seven-phase election.

(On a side note, the Indian election ran as long as the entire campaign period for Britain’s July 4 general election.)

Anyway, back to the seven smart words.

“Modi survives”:

And then some. Mr Modi and his BJP lost their majority in parliament but they have survived any serious damage. In fact, despite the doom and gloom, Mr Modi and his BJP actually won the election. The BJP has emerged as the largest single party and it has the support of allies prepared to back a coalition government and Mr Modi as prime minister.

“Congress thrives”:

You can say that again. Who knew? That voters would even consider the prospectus offered by India’s grand old party of the freedom struggle? Congress has seemed so ineffectual for so long and the INDIA bloc it cobbled together from more than two dozen regional parties seemed unstable and unable to agree on very much, least of all the way forward. And yet, Congress will now lead an opposition bloc in parliament, one that could potentially keep the government on its toes. That is as it should be.

“Regional parties thrive”:

And keep alive both the BJP’s hopes of governing and Congress’s determination to be an effective opposition.

The BJP needs the support of the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party to form a coalition government. The Congress-led INDIA bloc has solid numbers because of the Samajwadi Party (in UP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (in Tamil Nadu).

That’s it. India today in seven words.