STRIDES PAST UPA

Let down by a government that has squandered its mandate and hit by a mismanaged economy, India rises in anger to pronounce its severest indictment of UPA which trails behind NDA by a significant margin. India yearns for change.

The evolution of UPA has been on a descending trajectory since the last General Elections but the velocity of the fall has become life threatening. There is one glimmer of hope: A revival of the Congress in Karnataka. This upward blip is comparatively a small consolation. Everywhere else, as the INDIA TODAY- Nielsen Mood of the Nation poll shows, UPA, particularly the Congress, is shedding seats at a pace that might make them unrecoverable before the next General Elections, technically scheduled for early 2014. Six months ago, in our last poll, NDA, despite being a much smaller alliance, had nosed its way past UPA. That is developing into a trend. NDA is now 15- 20 seats ahead, which is sufficient for a regime change in Delhi. Manmohan Singh, once an iconic global brand, seems to have passed his sell- by date.

The poll voices the anger of a people let down by UPA 2 which has given good governance and national responsibility a brazen go- by. India is impatient for change. If elections were held today, it would be NDA’s comeback moment. UPA, which at 171- 181 seats