The Left has less of a good record during the Emergency and events in Nandigram were alarming in their starkness with which CPM party cadre took the law into their hands. The Left is better at defending freedoms when in Opposition and awful where it is in power. But luckily soon they will be out of power in West Bengal and Kerala. They can freely become defenders of people’s liberties across the whole country.

The UPA will guarantee steady economic growth and by and large good treatment of the minorities. The long term neglect of Muslims may yet be reversed. But India also needs a Rule of Law rather than a rule of politics. The Opposition will need to work on that front as the government will not do so.