Indian voters have yet again taken everyone by surprise. Everyone – even political parties – were prepared to accept a fractured verdict from the electorate. Yet the voters have shown full faith in the secular credentials of the Congress party. Few had imagined Congress would retain office with over 200 seats — the highest any single party has got in 25 years — and UPA over 250. The resounding win has boosted hopes of a stable government at a time when democracy is being tested in India's neighbors. This is not only a celebration for the Congress victory but also for democracy, political leaders from of all hues admitted. “The people of India have spoken, and spoken with great clarity,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters. The victory over the opposition Hindu-nationalist-led alliance means the left-of-center Congress may find it easier to form a stable coalition with smaller parties and be less vulnerable to pressure on issues like economic reforms. “Eventually the people of India know what's good for them and they always make the right choice,” Sonia Gandhi, the head of the Congress party, told reporters. Congress party supporters carrying banners of star campaigners Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, set off firecrackers in celebration on the party's return to power. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition alliance would take 160 seats and a Third Front of communist and smaller groups 58 seats, the TV channel said. The BJP effectively conceded defeat by saying that Congress had the biggest mandate. “The results give the government much more freedom of action than it could have hoped for,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research. “Not only because it no longer needs the support from communist allies, but even the opposition, the BJP, has been so diminished after this election that it gives the Congress room on the foreign policy front too,” he said. The Congress win should boost investor confidence and hopes for reforms. Markets had been jittery over a poor showing by either national alliance, fearing the emergence of a weak coalition. “This is a dream for the market. You could not have thought of anything better than this. Get ready for a 7-8 percent rally in the stock market on Monday,” said Samir Arora, a fund manager at Helios Capital management in Singapore. Focus on Rahul Singh, 76, said he wanted a cabinet role for Rahul Gandhi, heir apparent of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty who is seen as the architect of the Congress party's resurgence in northern states. The Congress Party's victory in India's general election may see the baton of power soon passed to Rahul Gandhi, a son of India's most famous political dynasty and now tipped as a future prime minister. While 76-year-old Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to stay in office, it is the 38-year-old bachelor who is being talked about as Congress's leader-in-waiting, bringing the same draw to Indian politics as a young Kennedy does in the United States. “Voices are already there. It's a question of time,” senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh told local television when asked about Gandhi's future as leader. Setback of regional parties The election was a setback for regional, caste-based parties and the communists who were once seen as indispensable for any coalition formation. The communists, who were losing in their bastion states, broke away from Singh's coalition last year, angry over a civilian nuclear energy deal with Washington seen as undermining national sovereignty.
