Bose For decades the Congress or, for that matter, no political party, had it so good as the year 2009 has proved to be.
They had a rather unexpected sweep-across the country in the general election held in May, and now three states, including two significant ones, like Maharashtra and Haryana, have once again come under their sway.
This latest round of victories have, indeed, come as a greater surprise than their victory at the Lok Sabha Polls.
The UPA's performance at the centre, so far, has been conspicuously lack lusture.
They have evidently failed to grapple with the run-away inflation that has badly affected, all especially the poor, since the closing months of the UPA's earlier regime.
Despite having a first-rate Oxbridge alumnus as in economics as our prime minister the prices of almost all non-elastic essential items have touched astronomical heights.
The less is said about the internal security scenario the better.
Nearly one-third of our country is virtually in grips of Maoist insurgents of varying hues, and the P.M.
has been forced to declare Maoism is a major menace.
They had never been so active as they are now, attacking police parties and blowing up railway lines at their choosing in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and even in parts of Maharashtra parts of West Bengal, which were apparently peaceful till a year ago are now witnessing a regular fight between the armed tribals and our para-military forces.
The state government's writ practically does not run in the hills of West Bengal.
An uneasy calm, like that of a cemetery, prevails in Kashmir, Manipur, and Nagaland, while common crime is every where on the increase.
In foreign affairs we have been following our chosen 'Doctrine of Vacillation'.
Like the Mumbai mayhem of 26/11 we have taken in our stride the second attack on our embassy at Kabul for months we were seized with the syndrome, 'to talk or not to talk that is the question.' And, when we did talk at Shram el-Sheikh we were again in the eye of the storm of doubt about the wisdom of what we had conceded.
Little progress has been registered on the Kashmir front, and the latest stance of the OIC and of the so-called moderate Hurriyats do not inspire hope.
Pakistanis obviously playing footsie, now that they have been assured of the US aid of 7.5 billion dollars spread over five years.
Developments in Nepal have not been very much to our liking, while China is aga in raking up the unpleasant border dispute around our PM's and Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
So, why did people vote for the Congress to ensure their rule in three states for five more years? Actually, the voters by and large have not voted in favour of a Congress rule.
In Maharashtra they have polled 1 percent less than in the previous election, and in Haryana the percentage of votes polled by the Congress fell by 7.4 percent from the 35 percent polled last time.
Nor have they voted against the Congress to see it out of power as a punishment for their many-sided failure and non-performance.
The poor and middle classes are literally fuming with anger because of the soaring inflation, economic meltdown, and unsatisfactory performance on other fronts.
Yet, by not disowning the Congress en masse, many of them only demonstrated their preference for known continuity and stability--even though unsatisfactory and boring--to the unknown extremism of most of the communal and regional outfits.
To that extent the responsibility for the Congress' victory lies at the door of the opposition, who neither separately nor collectively could attract the voters and convert their disenchantment with the Congress into electoral support.
Their failings, in fact, can be discerned at two levels.
First, no party in opposition had any thing convincing to offer in terms of their policies or past performance.
The BJP, the principal party in opposition, is in visible disarray.
The senior most among the active leaders, L.K.
Advani, is like an icon who is respected but not listened to, and the majority is no longer willing to extend him even the formal respect for long.
Just below him their is a virtual melee for power and position among the second rung of leaders, and what over was beneath the carpet has been brought to light by the controversy over Jaswant Singh's expulsion and the RSS Sarsang chalak's intervention to set the affairs within the BJP in order.
In fact, the BJP's bid to capture votes in the name of Hindutva does not wash any more with the voters, in general.
They want peace and normalcy and an opportunity to make money.
Ram Mandir and Ram Setu do not click with the young voters.
Nor did their alliance with the Bihari-bashing Shiv Senas go down well with the north Indians in Maharashtra and even elsewhere.
Maratha chauvinism is a political force, no doubt.
But the split in Thackercay with his M.N.S from Uddhav's Shiv Sainiks have divided the rest of their supporters.
So, the benefit went to the Congress-NCP alliance, when anti-incumbent votes go divided among the BJP, the MNS, and Shiv Senas.
Even if the anti-Congress parties had any thing in their favour they spoilt their chances, if any, by fighting the polls separately, and thus enabling the Congress to carry away the prize by polling much less than even 40 percent of the votes polled.
In Haryana too the story was more or less the same.
Apart from the anti-incumbency factor the Congress there had to carry the burden in being visibly pro-Jat to the disadvantage of others.
So, the Hooda-led Congress lost 27 seats.
Still, it managed to come out as the largest single party, partly because its major opposition is led by another Jat leader, Chautala, of the I.N.L.D., and partly because many prefer a government in the state that enjoys favour with the centre.
The BSP has drawn a blank because many felt that a vote for the BSP is a vote cast in a dust bin, since they had no chance of making a mark in state politics.
Unfortunately for the opposition the BJP could not make common cause with the INLD.
Thus a divided opposition, lacking any appeal for the masses even individually, helped the Congress romp back to power for no credit of their own.
In Arunachal, as in almost all tribal-majority states, if not more, support for political parties is primarily determined by local issues, and pulls and pressures of tribal politics.
There the BJP, with their emphasis on Hindutva had hardly any appeal for the local animist tribals.
Nor, do they have any special grouse against the centre and the UPA in power there.
So, the Congress there had a field day, while the TMC had made an entry into Arunachal politics on the shoulders of disgruntled members of other parties.
So, the Congress or the UPA, for that matter, has reasons to be happy with the outcome of the recent polls, but no reason to feel satisfied, far less complacent.
The voters have, willy-nilly, given them another chance to prove their worth, and hope that they will face the future with vision and determination.
We, on our part, are happy over the drubbing that communal and parochial parties have receiving in the election results.