ASSMBLY ELECTIONS - CONGRESS NEEDS TO BE CAUTIOUS NOW

I am a bit surprised with the result of the assembly elections. Having been in Delhi for about 3 years during the Shila Dixit regime (which will be there for the next five years hopefully) my gut feeling was that Congress would have been ousted unceremoniously this time. However my guess fell flat as Congress again enjoyed a thumping victory there.I think the Delhiwalahs are least bothered about power cuts, water crisis, high living costs, otherwise the result would have been different.Even a year back while I was in Delhi I heard common people saying "Cong bhagao, BJP ko lao". Even the business communities were becoming sick of Congress especially after the Sealing fiasco. Add to it the nationwide protests agains the Government after the terror attack. I think congress managed to win there mainly because common people stayed aloof from voting as their faith on the politicians is diminishing. The result in Rajasthan was not surprising though.Well, Jaipur blast might have made a longlasting impact on the Rajasthanis!!! The Gujjar crisis played a crucial role in favour of the opposition.Moreover, the complacent former CM did little to gain the popular support there. BJP was expected to retain their supremacy in MP and Chattishgarh. And Mizoram? Well , I dont think it makes much difference to the national politics.

Congress after retaining Delhi and snatching away Rajasthan must be feeling confident before the Lok Sabha Elections. But remember what happened in 2003 assembly elections. BJP won in Rajasthan, Chattishgarh and MP and the over confidence that they showed afterwards cost them the power in the centre. So it is expected from Sonia & Co that they have learnt from the past and won't repeat the mistakes BJP made earlier. So in a nutshell, the result of the assembly elections might not have much impact when citizens of this nation will go to the booths to elect the new government in 2009.