LONDON — Yet again, India's voters confounded the pundits and comfortably returned the Congress party alliance to power. Now the question is whether leader Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and their colleagues can return the compliment and get to grips with the immense problems and the enormous opportunities of the economy without being constantly diverted by petty political bickering.
It is not as easy as it seems, not least because India faces deep social divisions and institutional constraints and because the global turmoil and the need for continuing economic reforms may be pushing India in conflicting directions.
India's growth will fall to about 6 percent this year, demonstrating that the country is not immune to the global cataclysm. But the damage has not eaten as deeply into the fabric of the economy as has happened in the West: The banks are still sound and India is not as export dependent on developed markets as other fast-growing countries, notably China.