On March 6, yesterday, the results for the 2012 Assembly elections in 5 states were declared. The big daddy, Uttar Pradesh, saw the Samajwadi Party ride into power after 5 years of Maya raaj.

Just like the Bahujan Samajwadi Party rode into an absolute majority in the previous edition, this time as well, the SP gained over 220 seats, way over the simple majority needed to form the government. So in a way, the previous elections and this current elections show that no matter what the ideologies and methodologies of the parties that won, the people of the state have indeed shown a strong desire for political stability, and that, in a democracy, is a fairly good thing in itself.

There are quite a few surprises and some not-so surprises thrown up this time. For one, and perhaps not a surprise to anybody, was that despite the CON mafia's first family throwing everything in with the kitchen sink into campaigning in the state, they still came in a pitiable 4th. Even with the number of seats won by their ally RLD, they are still behind BJP, which came in third with 47 seats, still 4 short of its number in 2007.

According to the news report in The Hindu, SP made strong inroads into former BJP and Congress bastions of Lucknow and Rae Bareilly/Amethi respectively. Another stat thrown up this time was the relatively higher number of urban voters going for the SP, who in the past have shown a tendency for voting for either of the two national parties.

First Post has done a small write-up on the next big thing in UP politics, Akhilesh Yadav, who is 38 and could well be the Chief Minister of UP, despite stating that it will be his father who will hold the post.

Now I personally do not have an opinion if a younger Chief Minister or MP or MLA or whatever has any bearing on their propensity to be a good and just administrator and office bearer, but his past does make for an interesting read because First Post shows him as a very simple, reserved and educated person. He is 38, and if indeed he does become the Chief Minister, and is able to bring some of the modern thoughts of equitable development, education and healthcare (imagine calling them modern even after 60 years of fighting on the same poll planks!), into UP politics, that will be a good sign.

Of course, SP and BSP are two peas in the same pod when it comes to the kind of political leaders they keep, including gangsters, criminal politicians, and old feudal lords. Maya tried to clean her image, and such a fairly obvious fake pathetic attempt it was, by removing some 'tainted' ministers from her cabinet, and apparently so did SP before the elections. Isn't it a sad thing in Indian politics - you can kill and loot and subvert justice and you'll still be only 'tainted'.

Of course, despite all the good intentions, old habits die hard. Even I have had to heard queries about my own attitudes and background because I belong to UP, so despite all the good vibes and hope going around, some UP bhaiyas will be UP bhaiyas, and First Post reports, a child died in Sambhal because of guns being fired into the air to celebrate an SP victory. In Jhansi, apparently angry SP party members have detained members of the press who are hiding in a school building and destroyed their equipment after their candidate lost.

In terms of the real issues of development, education, health care and all that jazz, it remains to be seen what Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav does now. There are a few poll promises he made towards education and girls and Muslims, and I would love to see many of them be put into practice with earnest. The fact is that this state is now perhaps the most backward state in the country, and it just refuses to get out of its impoverished mentality. There is practically no law and order, no electricity, and its just been crumbling away in terms of social development.

When it was certain that SP would win in the state, the Anil Ambani stocks started going up, and the Jaypee Infrastructure stocks started going down. I mean its kind of pathetic and wrong in a way that the political-business nexus is so fairly obvious in the state, and not just UP, but even nationally, but if they can create some decent infrastructure and bring some modicum of development through their activities, then perhaps it should be welcomed to an extent. Of course, they will make crores in the process for themselves, but then that's exactly how it works in the country anyway.