Word: bjp
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...democracy - with the world's largest electorate - not a tribal society in the thrall of some famous chieftain and his progeny. As powerful as the Gandhi name may be in the symbolic language of Indian political advertising, the defeat of the Hindu-nationalist government of Atal Behari Vajpayee's BJP had a lot more to do with the economy. By many measures, that's a rising star, with growth rates and a booming tech sector that make it the toast of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Hence Vajpayee's decision to call an early election, advised by his handlers that...
...Unfortunately for the BJP, the refracted glow of the high-tech palaces of Bangalore and Hyderabad never reached the rural villages and urban slums where 80 percent of the population continues to live in grinding poverty. The rewards of globalization and India's emergence as a high-tech powerhouse have been enjoyed only by a tiny percentage of Indians. As a Goldman Sachs report recently noted, India is home to one third of the world's software engineers and one quarter of its undernourished population. And for the impoverished majority, the message of a "Shining India" rang hollow, at best...
...BJP's pro-business agenda appeals to India's middle class, currently numbering 300 million out of a population of 1 billion, and increasing. And it can legitimately claim to be more tech-savvy than Congress. During this election campaign, the BJP even sent recorded voice messages from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to all 110 million landlines and mobile phones in the country?an appealing display of technological prowess to the 53% of eligible Indian voters (355 million people) under 25 years...
...last election, in 1999, the BJP won 182 seats and, with its allies, a majority of 295 in the 543-member Parliament. Congress won 114, its worst-ever result. Opinion polls in India are known primarily for their inaccuracy, but this year they broadly predict the BJP alliance will hold or increase its majority and that Congress will at best hold its share of seats. The BJP, says Vanaik of Jamia Millia Islamia, "will become the fulcrum of Indian politics...
...sentimental adoration of the masses. While Sonia Gandhi and her children are being mobbed in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Krishna Advani are holding a rally a couple of hours away in the state capital, Lucknow, which is Vajpayee's constituency. Whatever the BJP's electoral standing, the polite applause and lackluster cheers that greet the two leaders bear no comparison to the wild scenes swamping the Gandhi bandwagon. As Rahul says of these hordes: "This is not political. This is emotional." Rahul says the affection for his family stems from its dedication to public service...