India is the world's biggest democracy. The monumental 1 month long election itself is fascinating. Somehow the Congress government managed to win with a majority. I should say they deserve the victory. We have been through a very rouch ride, with the food crisis, economic crisis, Mumbai terror attack and numerous other small terrorist plots, etc etc etc. But India is in a far better shape than any other country.GDP growth is less, but we are not going to face a recession. Our banking system is pretty stable, thanks to RBI.
I am actually glad, that the congress government is being elected with a full majority. There are no communists around to stop every possible growth. Without them in the picture, it is actually a good chance for Congress to come back and do something good for the country.
These are the people who are completely responsible for India's growth today. They opened up India for foreign investments. They demolished the License Raj. Hopefully Mr.Singh's team should do a decent job in the next 5 years. I read an interesting article today in the India Today magazine. You can read it here. It is about what needs to be done in the next 5 years.
Because we all know this term is going to be even more crucial for the congress government. They have to make an impact and make way for Rahul Gandhi to take over next time. When you look at him, Rahul is just an exact photocopy of Rajiv Gandhi. And that similarity alone is enough to make him the next PM. And it seems like he made a big impact in the UP elections this time. Remember, no party has ever captured power and formed a government in the central without winning UP. Even after breaking UP into 3 states, UP is still a big deal in India. Sadly, it is one of the most under-developed state too. One of the many reasons why the US presidential system wont work in India.
Coming back to the point, this congress government is filled with great and smart people. First of all, our PM, Mr.Singh. One of the most respected politicians in India. Easily the most honest man in Delhi. It is an added plus that he is a finance genius. I personally admire Sonia Gandhi. First of all, she could have peacefully lived in Italy. But she chose to come to a chaotic country, India and lead a political party that was in a very bad shape. Second of all, she passed the PM post to Manmohan singh twice. Say whatever reason you want. When Mayawati wants to be a PM, what wrong can possibly arise from Sonia being the PM. But she didnt. That requires lots of courage and wisdom. That is a great political move, which won her respect among people and even the opposition, who have not made a single comment about her being a Italian born woman, during the last election.
And then, P.Chidambaram. Another brilliant politician. The one and only Harvard educated politician in India. You should see the way he handled the shoe-throwing incident. A very composed and smart person. Am glad he is the home minister. We need some changes with respect to our attitude towards Pakistan.
Shasi Tharoor. Have you seen his speeches? (lots available in youtube) He is another damn smart politician in the current Indian government. I was hoping he would be given the External affairs ministry. But sadly SM Krisha got the portfolio. But it is ok. Shasi Tharoor has been given the minister of state role for the external affairs ministry. Hopefully in the next term, he should become the cabinet minister. That would be awesome.
Another disappointment with respect to portfoli allocation is Dayanithi Maran. He is obviously good at IT. But he was not given that portfolio, instead Raja got it. Really sad. I think it is our honourable CM who should have interferred and made sure that Maran didnt get IT. But lets hope Maran can make a big difference in the textile industry.
I dont trust Pranab Mukerjee as the Finance minister. But lets wait for the first interim budget. Another disappointment was Kamal Nath. I thought he will get the commerce ministry. He did a great job last time.
Anyways, lets hope the current cabinet can make an impact for years to come. Here is a great speech by Shashi Tharoor, in New York while releasing his book, "The elephant, the tiger and the cellphone".
Shasi tharoor on the growth of cell phones in India. (below)
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