NEW DELHI, May 11: India’s ruling coalition, including communists and regional allies, recorded spectacular victories on Thursday in crucial state polls which left the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in disarray.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that lends vital support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s minority United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, asserted its hold in West Bengal by sweeping to a seventh successive victory. It also dislodged the Congress Party in Kerala and made inroads in the Kerala bastion of the Muslim League too.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a major partner in the UPA government, recorded an emphatic victory in Tamil Nadu against Chief Minister Minister J. Jayalaltiha. The Congress retained its hold in Pondicherry and emerged as the single largest party in Assam. It, however, narrowly lost the majority it had in the outgoing assembly.
The Congress Party-led UPA also got a major bonus from the victory of its leader Sonia Gandhi who retained her parliamentary of Rae Bareli in a by-election forced by her resignation from the Lok Sabha over an ethical matter. She polled more than 400,000 votes.
The landslide win against rivals belonging to the BJP and Samajawadi Party of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, prompted calls by her supporters for Ms Gandhi to take over as the prime minister. The Congress Party president, who had turned down a similar request in May 2004, rejected the suggestion and ticked off the enthusiastic cheer leaders for being impetuous.
The elections are widely seen as important for India’s foreign policy options. Indications are the foreign policy and the economic policy are now going to be even more keenly watched, and checked by the government’s communist allies. High on their list of disagreements with Prime Minister Singh is the approach towards Iran, which is seen as a recent policy formulated at the behest of the United States.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) said: “The election results have strengthened the role of the Left in national politics. It congratulated “the people of West Bengal and Kerala for the splendid victories of the Left Front and the Left and Democratic Front in the assembly elections.”
This time in West Bengal, the Left Front has won a three-fourth majority with the CPI(M) alone winning a majority of seats.
Both in West Bengal and Kerala, the Left-led governments to be formed, have the major responsibility to translate their manifestos and commitments into practice.
In Assam, the Congress, which was in government, has failed to win a majority. It has emerged as the single largest party. The CPI(M) has won two seats.
