India, Pakistan review democracy at 60

MANMOHAN VS VERSUS: The Prime Minister has his people's support but not the Pakistani general.

          

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Keywords: Pakistan, India

Indians are upbeat and Pakistanis pessimistic about the governance systems in their countries, says an opinion poll conducted by CNN-IBN, The Indian Express, Dawn News and CSDS.

Why do Indians and Pakistanis feel differently about their governments and what is the future of democracy in the two nations? A CNN-IBN debate asked this to Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Pamela Philipose, an associate editor at The Indian Express, and Yogendra Yadav, senior fellow at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies.

First focus on Pratibha Patil

The first women President of India, Pratibha Patil was elected after a bitter fight between the UPA government and the BJP-led NDA. So if given a choice who would the common man have voted for?

The survey revealed that 16 per cent people would have voted for Bhairav Singh Shikhawat and 41 per cent of the people would have voted for Pratibha Patil. Twenty per cent of the people said that they would not have voted for either of the two.

However, 17 per cent said that she was not competent enough to become President. Fifty-eight per cent of the people said that it was too early to judge Patil.

Yadav, who conducted the opinion poll, said the poll showed that people had ignored NDA’s allegations against Pratibha Patil.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy said there were issues before the poll as far as Pratibha Patil was concerned.

“However, it is very unfair to be too judgemental about her as she has just taken office. More over we have to accept that she is the President of India,” said Rudy.

Kapil Sibal agreed to what Rudy had to say. “We should give respect to Pratibha Patil for being the President of India and not srutinise her,” Sibal said.

How do the people of India rate the Government of the day?

UPA- Between January and August, 20007, 73 per cent of the people were satisfied and 21 per cent of the people were dissatisfied.