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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Saturday, May 17, 2014

A Chinese friendly Indian Prime Minister



814.5 Million Possible Voters
  • According to the Election Commission of India, the electoral population in 2014 election was 814.5 million, making it the largest ever election in the history of the world.


Early results on Friday from India's five-week long general election indicated a landslide victory for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi.

The alliance led by the Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP had already won or was winning 339 parliamentary seats, far more than the majority of 272 required to rule, Reuters reported. Even on its own, the BJP was ahead in 282 seats, giving Modi the most decisive mandate for an Indian prime minister in 30 years. A total of 543 seats are up for grabs in India's parliament.

New Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Chinese saw his pro-business approach and a no-nonsense
administrative style that made his home state a rare investor-friendly
island in a sea of bureaucratic sloth.  Modi has visited China four times.

"You have to remember that this is an opportunity, not a victory, to speak in one voice to move forward," said Shamika Ravi at the Brookings Institution in New Delhi.

"So everyone is hopeful that Modi can deliver the growth mandate that he has promised," she added.

A clear majority would give Modi, a tea vendor's son and the chief minister in the western state of Gujarat, a clear mandate to push through his economic agenda reports CNBC.

Modi has promised that, if elected, he would take decisive steps to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive economic growth that has fallen to a decade low of below 5 percent.

"Modi has said very clearly that its 'toilets over temples.' For a deeply religious man, that kind of very stark statement is an interesting indication of his commitment to develop the country," Thomas R. Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to India told CNBC.
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Modi, credited for his pro-business policies in Gujarat, has raised expectations that he will be able to revive India's economic fortunes.


An Indian officer examines an electronic voting machine
ahead of parliamentary elections in Jammu.

Warning to American Readers
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Americans please do not be frightened.  This is what the rest of the world calls a free election with many real political parties on the ballot for the voters to chose from.
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Don't worry.  That unsettling feeling you have that the corrupt two-party American oligarchy is fucking you over will pass.  Soon you will forget this article ever existed, and you will go back to your fantasy world of thinking you live in a democracy.
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(Indian general election - 2014)

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