INDIA IS A continent masquerading as a country. Like America, it is a federation that divides power between the centre in Delhi and 31 states with their own elected assemblies and rulers (five more “union” territories are run from the centre). It has a national parliamentary system where the lower house matters more but the upper one has veto powers. And it is saddled with a bureaucracy that can stifle reformist politicians, though it also has an assertive judiciary, pushy media and lots of activists.
Until recently one institution looked chronically weak: the prime minister. The previous incumbent, Manmohan Singh, was timid and allowed his boss in the Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, to wield power behind the scenes. “The truth is, nobody was in charge,” says a former cabinet minister. Now Mr Modi dominates, drawing strength from his emphatic national election victory in May last year. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 282 of 543 seats in the lower house, the first overall majority ever for a party other than Congress.
The “Modi wave” of electoral success had started earlier, and continued later, with strong performances...
from The Economist: Special report http://ift.tt/1FzJTPv
No comments:
Post a Comment