Writing in the Business Standard, Devangshu Datta writes about the sorry choice presented before an exasperated and desperate Indian Electorate who are forced to choose from an array of feckless politicians enriched with a 19th century mindset:

One alliance is led by a lady who prefers to remain an extra-constitutional authority pulling strings from behind the throne. She is fronted by a quintessential bureaucrat, an intelligent man, who is much too disciplined to indulge in independent thought. The other alliance is led by an octogenarian with a long, uninspiring track record.

Then, there are the lefties still in the time warp of a bipolar world that ended over 15 years ago. There are the regional satraps, who want to be the big fish in small ponds, where they can play caste and community games. There is the lady who believes she should be the boss simply because she is not high-caste. There is the lady who believes she should be the boss simply because the alternative is the Left Front.

So when journalists talk in terms of the Indian elections being a glorious festival, pardon them - they are just trying to make us look better in comparison with our neighbors. We are just a hair-breadth away from chaos. No one has the courage to show the truth to a gung-ho billion - in this case, the 700 million or so voters.