Heavy voter turnout enthuses Congress

Battered by corruption charges and the Hazare tsunami, the Congress on Wednesday said the high voter turnout – nearly 75 percent – in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry Assembly polls was an indication that the people have full faith in the democratic system.

Facing criticism for having given into the pressure of the Lokpal civil rights groups a bit too easily, the Congress claimed that heavy polling in the four states indicated that the people have “not lost their faith in our democratic process’’.

There was little doubt that the Congress spokesperson, Manish Tewari, was getting back at Anna Hazare’s brand of activism. During the Lokpal agitation, sweeping allegations were levelled against the political class. The current election process was termed as a tainted act in which votes were bought and sold to win elections.

Drawing a subtle contrast between the unbridled civil right activist and the political worker, Tewari glorified the latter. He said that the ubiquitous but faceless political workers carry “the idea and ideology of democracy’’ to every voter’s doorstep and that “the people have come out to vote in large numbers’’ is a victory for the political worker. (However, the EC disclosure that no less than `53 crore has been seized during the election process which could have been used for influencing the voters somewhat punctured the high moral ground that the Congress spokesperson tried to claim on behalf of the political class.)

Though the Congress maintained an upbeat public face, the tension in the party over the likely outcome of the polls was quite palpable. This round of Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam, which completed polling today, and West Bengal, which goes for staggered polling from April 18 onwards, would undoubtedly be treated as a referendum on the scam-hit Manmohan Singh Government.

This is the first major electoral test that the Congress and its UPA-II are facing after being hit by multiple corruption scandals and spiraling food inflation. So much would depend on the results of these elections which would come out on May 13.

[Full Coverage]

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