Legally India’s informal online poll from last week saw 629 readers cast their virtual vote when asked: Who do you want as your next government.
The BJP garnered a massive 61 per cent of lawyers’ votes.
However, surprisingly the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), found a lot of support from lawyer readers.
AAP picked up 19 per cent of votes, relegating Congress to distant also-ran in third place.
And, somewhat tragically for India’s oldest democratic party, Congress found itself tied at 9.38 per cent with None of the Above (NOTA) – an option introduced for the first time in these national elections for voters unhappy with all of the choices available.
The poll, while obviously unscientific, did implement basic dual vote prevention mechanisms, and the ratios by each party remained fairly steady throughout the last 6 days of voting (though Congress was behind NOTA at the beginning of the poll).
Comments
you maoist, jhola hugging, sickular, pizza loving, Italian pappu licker - don't cast aspersions on the poll results.
Sort of anecdotally a BJP win seems to gel with what many lawyers have been saying in conversations too. Many seem to believe, rightly or wrongly, that Modi would be good for the economy (and that, in my limited experience, is what most corporate / private practice lawyers seem to care most about).
Plus, anecdotally, most corporate lawyers aren't usually very left-leaning citizens, and they are usually quite well-off and conservative, so voting for right-of-center is not counter intuitive.
What I found surprising in these results is the number of votes AAP managed to get and just how badly Congress performed though...
Sort of anecdotally a BJP win seems to gel with what many lawyers have been saying in conversations too. Many seem to believe, rightly or wrongly, that Modi would be good for the economy (and that, in my limited experience, is what most corporate / private practice lawyers seem to care most about).
Plus, anecdotally, most corporate lawyers aren't usually very left-leaning citizens, and they are usually quite well-off and conservative, so voting for right-of-center is not counter intuitive.
What I found surprising in these results is the number of votes AAP managed to get and just how badly Congress performed though...[/quote]
Don't suppose there can be any parallels drawn regarding left of center and right of center in the Indian context which is very unlike certain western democracies. Congress hasn't been really attractive to the left leaning lot(because of its 'left' tendency and BJP for the conservative rich. I just fail to see any shred of similarity between BJP and say, the GOP in the US or the congress with the democratic party.
BJP and in particular Modi himself do have some parallels to the ideological right of centre in line with the UK's Tories / Conservatives, for instance.
Congress is by most yardsticks the more socialist (left-leaning) option of the two, with Modi apparently less focused on welfare and handouts for the poor and more on economic development for the middle classes and the rich (his track record on tribals and empowerment of the poor in Gujarat is not great, while the Tatas, Ambanis, Adani's and most of the industrialists (e.g., corporate lawyers' clients) seem to love him).
Furthermore, the BJP (and in particular Modi or the RSS) itself has similarities to nationalist parties that are right of centre too, such as Putin & Co in Russia or other more hardline right-wing nationalists elsewhere.
And for instance Germany's governing right-of-centre party, the CDU, literally translates to "Christian Democrats", which is nominally rather remniscient of Hindutva.
And though I don't have empirical proof, anecdotally I feel that the older (and richer) voters get, the more likely they are to veer right of centre, both for economic and nationalistic reason, notwithstanding 'Modi wave' and all....
Nearly 430 AAP candidates are standing for elections. BJP is contesting 450 seats. Congress has 440.
Has UPA become another non-UPA?
main to bahut chota aadmi hoon, meri koi aukat nahin hai (I am a very small person i have no status)