An election in the world’s largest democracy would usually arouse global interest and curiosity. But this year, there’s the added intrigue of being a country with one of the few stable governments in an otherwise volatile region, and also one which has been able to sustain economic growth during a global downturn. While foreign correspondents have to take the big picture back to their audiences at home, they also have a front row seat to the election as residents of India. We asked seven seasoned journalists to tell us what excites them about this election and why it matters to their readers. Here are their edited answers.
It hardly bears mentioning that India is an increasingly important country in the American imagination. So at one level, these elections are important to ‘The Times’
because they will decide what kind of government will rule this country and which way India will go on issues such as terror, climate change and not least, how it will steer its way through the global economic crisis. A wobbly or fragile coalition could obviously make it more difficult for the next government to take decisive action, and this is worrying at a time when India’s leadership is vital. Yes, Indo-US relations have undoubtedly deepened. But the road ahead is paved with delicate issues, from India’s position on greenhouse gas emissions to how to deal with Pakistan. But having said all that, for me, the value of these elections is not simply their currency to the American policymaker or investor. All politics is local, and these polls present an opportunity to take stock of what matters here and chronicle how democracy actually functions on the ground.
Somini Sengupta
India Bureau Chief, The New York Times
Our newspaper is very interested in the Indian election, and India in general, because there is such a large Indian and Pakistani population in the United Arab
Emirates. Thirty per cent of the population is Indian; it’s the largest non-Emirati percentage of the population. And there is so much business between India and the UAE. Some of our readers move back and forth between India and the UAE, so some of them will actually be voting in the election. We have to keep that in mind when we’re writing the stories. We need to give them enough analytical content to be well-versed in the election. I think the big theme of this election is the possibility of the end of the BJP and the Congress party’s two-party hold on Parliament. And BSP’s Mayawati is one of the most interesting aspects of this election. She’s such a fascinating character, regardless of how she does. The fact that she could lead the Third Front and possibly become prime minister—given her background—says so much about India.
Hannah Gardener
Staff writer, The National, published in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the UAE