Indians are electing a new government in a voting process that takes six weeks, with results due on May 16, 2014. We have all been brought up on the remarkable achievement of India being the world’s largest democracy, albeit amid conditions of continuing poverty and wide inequalities. The fact remains, however, that the 814 million voters – 100 million more than in the 2009 elections – are not overwhelmed with scintillating candidates to vote for, a problem India shares with many other democracies around the world. (Contrast this with China where a one-party state has a track record, in recent times, of delivering strong and effective leaders.)
Not that India has completely stood still, its growth rates have reached double figures at times over the past 10 years. The World Bank reports that since independence, life expectancy has doubled, literacy rates quadrupled, a middle class has emerged and the country is home to globally recognised pharmaceutical and steel companies. On the other hand, with a per capita income of $1410 in 2011, it remains one of the poorest of middle-income countries and the laggard among the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China. India’s poorest states fare very badly with a per capita of $436 in Uttar Pradesh (which is home to more people than Brazil) and $294 in Bihar.
