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K. Ramesh

THE recent elections in the four States, three of which were won by the BJP, have probably set a new trend in voting pattern, and are educative to voters, political parties and the media.

First, there is a noticeable shift in the women (housewives and working class alike) exercising their preference in favour of women candidates. The interesting part is that they are no longer carried away by emotional issues.

Second, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, enjoys tacit acceptance as the leader of the nation, in spite of the continuing tug-of-war among the coalition parties. According to a recent survey, his popularity is more than that of the BJP itself. Third, the BJP frequently dubbed by the media as "anti-secular" for its Hindutva stance did not use it in its entire campaign, yet it managed to get convincing wins.

Fourth, the Chhattisgarh victory and the events before and after the elections suggest an even more interesting feature. There seems to be total rejection of caste-based campaign in the State, and, clearly governance mattered for the people.

Overall, the trend seems to be moving from emotional to real issues of governance and performance, and is welcome. Also, it is the solid reputation of the prime leadership that counts. This trend when extrapolated leads to the reality that it is a coalition of parties, not the single largest party, that will govern the country in the coming years.As for the people, one only hopes that they continue with the trend of exercising their franchise to those who perform. However, it is too early to conclude that the pattern that surfaced in the just-concluded elections will continue, particularly in view of the diversity across the country.

The growing expectations of the people on performance will, hopefully, compel political parties to fulfil promises, rather than depend on emotional appeal and by engineering divisions.

(The author is a practising advocate and a Fellow member of the ICAI.)

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