When a global crisis went knocking at the doors of India, the people of the country chose to uphold the status quo. The Congress Party's subliminal message of "inclusive (economic) growth" trumped all others in striking a chord with the electorate. And close to 400 million electors who voted in the recently held general election delivered a verdict that was very near to being decisive.
The Congress Party-led alliance of parties, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) reached within the striking distance of the majority mark of 272 MPs in a lower house of Parliament of 544 members. They notched up a figure of 262 seats with the Congress Party alone bagging 206 seats on its own.
The biggest losers in this battle were the Left parties-led Third Front, which had challenged the bipolarity of Indian politics. Their message of implacable opposition to the neo-liberal policies -- those that are being thrown into the dustbin of history by the West -- of the Congress Party-led coalition and the religious, rightist formulations of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have failed to inspire the voters into supporting their plank.
So what is this mandate in favor of? Stability is a key demand of the people that has come across through this electoral exercise. The latter have voted to power a political formation with a reasonably clear mandate, thus ending any possibility of a power vacuum emerging in New Delhi. Now it would expect this government to provide stability in their life and livelihood.
This may stymie the hand of the new government, to be led by the economist-politician, Dr. Manmohan Singh, into bringing in any radical change in the policies. Not that the Congresss Party is itching to rock the boat. The 124-year-old party that gained India independence from British rule could never be blamed for any radical experimentation.
On the contrary, it was slow to change. When fundamental changes were taking place in India's hierarchical caste order in the Hindi-speaking heartland -- with the inexorable rise of the backward castes becoming a reality -- the Congress Party lost its unassailable position in Indian politics because it failed to provide reflection of that social change in the pecking order of political power.
But curiously this election has marked the coming-of-age of the fourth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Rahul Gandhi is the new scion of the family, and a lot of the credit for winning this election -- particularly the signs of revival of the party's fortunes in difficult places -- is being apportioned to him. He might have the desire to move fast and chart out new paths but the mandate his party has got would not allow him to be too much of an adventurist.
Meanwhile, a debate has broken out in the country about whether this poll verdict has a 'national' character. In other words, the question being asked was whether the people voted on national issues or whether they favored local issues.
The jury is out on that query. In some cases it would seem that the people voted with national concerns. In others -- especially where a strong regional leader has emerged -- the people have shown a marked propensity to allow local factors to rule the roost.
That perspective would not allow the UPA government to take supremacist positions on issues that could flow from their overgrown sense of strength. On the contrary, the imperative of the nature of the mandate would guide them towards doing the routine things in a better fashion. The dramatic changes would have to wait for a development of consensus.
The last point of discussion remains on the ideological perspective of this verdict. While in 2004 -- after the six year rule by the BJP-led NDA government -- the dynamic political center had clearly shifted to the left, and this year, the ideological orientation of the people seem to have got stuck in the middle. Afraid of any radical attempts at political or social engineering when the global economic crisis looms large, the electorate has chosen the well trodden middle path.
Not the call of dalit (oppressed) consolidation or radical changes in India's engagement with the USA and the West that the Left parties had promised. They wanted 'more of the same' in larger dollops. And they have got it.
So, for the next five years the country would be ruled by the same Congress Party-led UPA government that ruled the previous five years. This time the UPA would not have the constraints of having to depend on the Left parties for support to survive in government. This unfettered freedom would make them follow their own policies in full steam. That would acquaint the people with the thrust of the UPA in terms of their beliefs and understanding. It remains to be seen whether the same electors find those palatable.