So the verdict is out! Am I glad about the election results? Well, I am not exactly crazy about the Congress. Agreed, I prefer them to the hard-liner BJP or the “Left” which perhaps is called “Left” because they aren’t “right” about anything under the sun. :-)

But at the end of the day, a politician is a politician who will pamper you till the election is over and then forget all about it. So should any one of us be glad that one more lot has come into power to mint money?

That said, I do have a soft corner for Manmohan Singh – and that despite the fact that I am not very happy about the foreigner who is running the show from behind the scene. Alright, some of you will say that though the rest of the government is run by Indians, those who put their country ahead of their personal agenda of amassing wealth can be counted on the fingers of one hand. So what’s wrong if the foreigner is controlling the show? You got a point.

So back to Manmohan Singh! I am not sure why I am for that guy – is it his gentle grandfatherly demeanor or a squeaky clean politician image (God knows that’s rare in India!) or maybe his superior financial brain. I have always placed a premium on brain-power. Whatever it is, I am glad he is back in the saddle.

Normally I wouldn’t have watched Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai dissecting the results or throwing hard questions at BJP and Left leaders after the results were out. But I am right now in a Southern city where Hindi and English channels are so few and far between that I have to make a note of the channel number on a piece of paper. Oh, and there isn’t any History Channel or Travel and Living channel on the hotel cable network.

So I watched Rajnath Singh declare that the election results took the NDA by surprise. I watched the ticker proclaim that the Left was routed in Kerala and West Bengal (must confess I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time I saw it!). I watched as Mayawati put forth her conspiracy theory as the reason for her party’s poor show in UP and I watched “Rahul Baba” as he went on and on about the power of youth.

Ah, the Rahul Factor! I was too young when Rajiv Gandhi was the PM to be reminded of him when I saw Rahul facing the journos today. The word Bofors (have I spelt it right?) kept popping into my mind even as I thought to myself ‘this guy looks honest, at least he is speaking frankly’. Whether he will stand by his words, only time will tell but as far as I am concerned I am not counting on it. At least I will be saved from the disappointment.

Well, if there’s any silver lining – it is that at least there is a clear mandate and not the “supporting from outside” crap that happens all the time. Thank God for small mercies! :-)