As general elections come closer the political scene in India is hotting up. Old alliances are breaking up and newer ones being formed. The ruling UPA,led by the Congress (I) is set to emerge as the biggest coalition.
The Third Front has been able to gather some regional heavyweights under it's umbrella. Political alliances have a short history in the Indian democracy and it's anyone's guess which form the ultimate ruling coalition will take. One thing is for sure, neither the Congress (I) nor the BJP can ignore the regional and smaller national parties.
Indians do not vote for an individual to rule the country for the next five years. The Prime Minister is chosen by the MP's of the biggest party/coalition.
The NDA led by the biggest opposition party, the BJP, has already announced L K Advani as it's Prime Ministeril candidate. The Third Front has a few aspirants too, Ex PM Deve Gowda, UP's Chief Minister Mayawati and Prakash Karat being the prominent one's.
The current PM Manmohan Singh recently had a cardiac surgery and may not take an active part in the election campaign. He does not have a popular support base anyways and was a compromise choice as Sonia Gandhi was not acceptable as the Prime Minister, even to many MP's of her party, due to the Issue of her being of Italian origin. Manmohan Singh is a noted economist and was the Finance Minister in the early 1990's when India opened up her economy to the world. His current tenure also coincided with the best 5 year phase the Indian economy has experienced since Independence. He has achieved enough to be remembered as a noted scholar, planner and leader in the history of Indian democracy. But one cannot b sure, political leaders in India have a very bad habit of clinging to power and death seems to be the only sure way of making them retire.
As I wrote erlier, even if the UPA ends up getting a simple majority on it's own, we arn't sure who the next Prime Minister of India would be. Though I don't support the Congress (I) or any other political party, my choice for the next Prime Minister is Rahul Gandhi.
The single biggest factor which makes me support him is age. He is 38. Demographically India is a young nation and we need a leader who is in sync with the hopes and aspirations of the common folk. He is still a bachelor and considering the female fan following he has, should be ble to attract a big percentage of young female votes for the Congress (I) and the UPA. He certainly won't face the issue of foreign origin like his mother did 5 years ago and Sonia Gandhi being the undisputed leader of the Congress (I) would make his claim stronger.
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