Not just about terrorists

From THE ECONOMIST

Dec 11th 2008 | DELHI

India's state elections

Voters deliver a setback to Hindu nationalists

EVEN as the bullets flew in Mumbai late last month, India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to extract maximum advantage from the attack by Islamist terrorists. In Mumbai and Delhi it took out front-page newspaper advertisements which depicted a blood-spattered surface and the words: “Brutal terror strikes at will. Weak government unwilling and incapable to fight terror…Vote for the BJP.”

In the end, in four Indian states that held polls after the terrorist attacks, with results released on December 8th, the ghoulish strategy of the Hindu nationalists did not work. The Congress party, which leads India’s national coalition, won three of the elections. Most pleasing for Congress, it held on to power in Delhi for a remarkable third consecutive term. It also won Rajasthan, a big northern state, from the BJP; and swept the field in Mizoram, a tiddler in the north-east. more