Indian media praise voters after surprise state polls

INDIA: The unexpected results of key polls in five Indian states left newspapers Tuesday applauding the ordinary voter for rejecting partisan solutions to terrorism and an economic downturn.

If there was a victor, it was the ruling Congress party, which held onto the capital New Delhi, wrested the desert state of Rajasthan from its main opposition rival, the BJP, and won a bonus victory in tiny Mizoram.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fought off the anti-incumbency factor to retain the central states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

With just months to go before a general election, the result was a boost for Congress, which had feared a voter backlash in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, punishing inflation and a slowdown in India's economic growth.

"The Congress can heave a huge sigh of relief.... It may be time for the BJP to go back to the drawing board," the Times of India said in an editorial that criticised the BJP's "aggressive" criticism of the ruling party as being soft on terror. "That strategy may have backfired," the Times said.

"(The voters) recognise terrorism, especially the kind witnessed in Mumbai, as a war waged on the nation. During war, people rally around the government to fight the threat from outside," it added. Rajasthan and Delhi both voted after the Mumbai carnage and both voted for Congress.

NEW DELHI, Tuesday, AFP