Understanding India's Elections

I was an avid supporter for Arvind Kejriwal for his campaign as well as the anti-corruption Aam Admi Party (AAP) these past few months. Among many liberal policies, AAP candidates have called for more lenient policies towards Kashmir and put overturning the anti-gay legislation on the party agenda. I find the leader Kejriwal to be very charismatic, savvy, inspiring, and dedicated. I knew that AAP would not win many seats, since it is still in an inchoate stage with few solid bases. Still, I was shocked by the sweeping magnitude in which the BJP's Narendra Modi won the elections. Today, I woke up to the election results in Madison, WI and posted a Facebook status about the matter.

Found out yesterday that my host here is a small business owner who voted for Scott Walker during the recall... Now the pro-business, anti-Muslim candidate Narendra Modi won in India's PM elections and I was in denial till today. Idealists have to fight on!

Nonetheless, India 2014 has seen a phenomenal exercise of democratic rights of 550 million people and there are many more details to be hashed out. AAP vote share impressed and outpaced many--"more than DMK, Shiv Sena, ADMK, NCP SAD, CPI, RJD, JDS, TRS, TDP, INLD, BJD, JDU, DMDK, LJP," tweeted @Just_Anuja.  The idealistic effect of AAP will definitely last on India's youth beyond these elections and I am sure of a Kejriwal comeback. 

Sino-India relations may deteriorate if Modi continues the hawkish foreign policy stances. But if he is true to his pro-business models, perhaps there would be an increase in bilateral trade. 

Judging from Modi’s governance in Gujarat, the daily said he places emphasis on infrastructure development, attracting investment and the establishment of special economic zones. “Economic development and improving people’s livelihoods are expected to be high on his agenda once he is elected prime minister. There is the possibility that he will expand Sino-India economic and trade cooperation and seek more Chinese investment,” Fu Xiaoqiang, a research fellow with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said.

Per request of a fellow writer, I compiled the news sources I have been following the past few months for the election. A post for nonfiction introductions to modern India will follow soon.

                            

News Outlets

• First Post
• The Indian Express
• The Caravan; excellent long-form journalism

Blogs

• Five Forty Five; rising NY-based digital journalists
• New York Times India

Twitter accounts

• Ramachandra Guha; historian and writer
• Jonathan Shainin; former editor for the Caravan
• Overrated Outcast; satirist and iconoclast
• Barkha Dutt; female news anchor and excellent interviewer for NDTV