What do the Indian Elections mean?

India, the worlds largest democracy, just finished up a month of elections (it took a month because there were not enough armed men to police the whole thing in one day).

The results came out in the past few days.

The Party with the most seats in Parliament is now Congress, with 206 out of 543 seats.

But that is not a majority. But they have several close allies. With their allies, they have 262 out of the 543 seats, only ten seats short of a majority.

So will they find those ten seats? Yes.

India has thousands of political parties, with dozens of them represented in the National Parliament. Congress will have no problem finding a few more votes.

So what was interesting about this election?

1. The BJP (a Hindu Revivalist Religious party) did poorly. For those worried about Freedom of Religion in India, this is good news.

2. The Incombent won. In an economic downturn, when people all over the world are putting elected officials out of office, India re-elected the same government, and even gave them more votes. This is probably because Congress is one of the least corrupt parties, and really does have the interest of the people at heart.

3. The Incombent won. India has a long reputation for turning over governments. And now when the rest of the world is upset at their leaders, India gave theirs a resounding victory.

4. M. Singh, the current Prime Minister, will have a better chance for economic reform. He has some good ideas for India (which is in serious need for reform of the economy, though different reforms than what we need in the West), but he was unable to implement most of those reforms in his past term because he didn't have a mandate in the election. Now he does.

5. You don't have to be charismatic to lead. M. Singh, the current Prime Minister, who just got re-elected, is one of the most un-charismatic people you could ever meet. But he is incredibly honest and uncorruptable, and the people responded.

6. The people of India chose national secular unity over regional religious parties. For those who love peace in that vast land, this is good news.