Wow... it's taken a month, but the final tallies are coming in from the Indian Parliamentary Elections and it's a big win for Congress, who is heading back to power. A month ago, forecasts were ranging from hung parliament, narrow coalitions and maybe a surprise electoral victory from the collection of 'Left Parties' known as the Third Front-- Congress' victory isn't entirely unexpected, but the size of the mandate is somewhat of a surprise.
Latest count from the Beeb has the breakdown as follows:
United Progressive Alliance: 139 seats
--Indian National Congress (Congress): 112 seats
National Democratic Alliance: 92 seats
--Bharatiya Janata Party: 92 seats
Third Front: 39 seats
--Bahujan Samaj Party: 11 seats
I think this is a tentatively good result. A hung parliament would have been dicey for India, but a solid coalition and a stable government means that India will be able to legislate with greater ease and effectiveness. And certainly no one can argue that the big national parties are losing relevance and dying out- not after this result.
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