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The return of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in particular in an electrifying electoral result that took the world by surprise has demonstrably re-established India’s firm shift to right and conservative economic policy. Since Independence, India has seldom given such a decisive say to any conservative economic ideology as mostly it had been content with joint-sector ideology or left-of- centre ones with no pronounced predilection for pure rightist tack for economic development. Not that any such tilt towards right could be politically suicidal that it was skirted by successive governments. Like the obsessive concern with secularism that invariably led to pseudo-secularism so much so that even minorities had lost faith in it, the political parties that ruled the country either alone on their strength till 1977 or much later with the dawn of coalition era governance must perforce trade in left-of-centre or centre-left or left-right mix of policies to give the façade of concern for the poorest of the poor who constitute the largest chunk of the country’s population.

The decline in Muslim representation in the Lok Sabha to the level of 23, accounting for a mere 4.4% of the entire strength of the Lower House of the Indian Parliament after the just concluded 2014 general elections has given rise to concerns among the Muslim clerics and the so-called secularist sympathizers.

It’s a sign of the pathology of much of India’s mainstream media that it displays the rise of the speculative-trader-industrialist Hinduja brothers to the top of Britain’s (not India’s) billionaire list on the front page, as many papers did on May 12, while blacking out the shamefully persistent phenomena of grinding poverty and rapidly growing income inequalities in this country.

If one person can be singled out for blame for the Congress’s defeat, it is Sonia Gandhi. There are others, too, such as Manmohan Singh who failed to speak up even when he realized that she was taking a wrong turn. But, the primary responsibility for the party’s worst ever performance is hers.

LUCKNOW: The verdict of the Lok Sabha 2014 polls verdict gave a rude shock to three prime ministerial candidates, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, Mayawati of the BSP and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. All three potential candidates failed miserably in front of the tsunami that swept the state, Narendra Modi’s wave.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The most significant – and disturbing – takeout from the result of the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala is the growing saffronisation of Kerala politics. That Kerala’s hitherto bipolar polity has acquired an increasing saffron hue, post poll, is a development that has ominous implications for the State.

Riding a breathtaking national wave, Mr Narendra Modi, rid of a controversial past, will lead a virtually BJP-dominated government of stability at the Centre to embark on his style of governance with a promise of 'good days' ahead for a 'Shining India' in the twenty-first century.

The unprecedented mandate in 2014 general elections for Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) spells people’s clear dictates to the Indian political leaders. They must perform or be removed. In earlier elections, the issue of good governance was mentioned in the campaign but never, it was so emphasized as it was in the just concluded elections. The credit for this must go to the Prime Minister in waiting Narendra Modi and the Indian media.

Twenty years back President, R Venkataraman, had observed that era of a single-party rule was over and coming two decades would be time for coalitions to rule India. And, coalitions did govern but could not give as effective rule as by a single-party government.

BJP’s landslide victory in 2014 elections has come as a surprise to those analysts and poll predictors who failed to understand and appreciate Modi politiks and statecraft and development agenda. The recent polls has shown how elections can be won if dissenting voices at grassroots level are given a patient hearing.