This picture is of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.Singh was re-elected as Prime Minister of India in the month-long election which ended yesterday. Today's Post article says that the Congress Party's victory is an affirmation of the status quo -- notwithstanding the economic troubles and terrorism in Mumbai last fall. Singh is the first full-term prime minister in almost 40 years to be voted back into power.
During the course of the election, Rahul Gandhi (Sonia's son) emerged as a full-blown political star. Singh has said he wants Rahul (who is 38) to join his Cabinet.
India's Parliament has 543 seats; Congress won 260 and the BJP won 160.
223. What are Singh's legislative priorities? He looks so calm and reassuring in this picture -- is he a calming presence on the pace of change in India?
224. My recurring question on Rahul Gandhi (and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, etc.): what is it that causes democracies to elect family members so often?
