Monitor

THE POLITICIANS have had (and forfeited) their chance to make and break governments. The people will now, fortunately, have theirs. The premature demise of any Lok Sabha is unfortunate, not least because electing a new one costs the exchequer, and the taxpayer, hundreds of rupees. Nevertheless, the circumstances in which the Cabinet decision has come makes the dissolution of the 12th Lok Sabha as welcome as it was inevitable. It was clearly on life-support systems for weeks, and if ever euthanasia were justified, it was in this case.

Economic Times

NOW THAT the opportunity of going to the people has come, at least the key players in the political arena should draw the right lessons from what the fractured mandates in the last two elections have entailed for the nation, and make it a point to forge alliances on the basis of well- defined and clearly spelt-out common agendas before seeking the mandate.

The Hindu

IF ONLY our political leaders and elected representatives had the nation's interest instead of their own in their minds, India's 13th Lok Sabha would have come only in 2006 AD. Sadly enough over the past three years, three governments were brought down, not over any contentious national issues or on a matter of principle, but on personal whims and ambitions.

Hindustan Times

THE MESSAGE people are likely to send out in these elections, as in the last two electoral exercises, is that they rely no more on the government of the day for roti, kapda and makaan, but it is their leadership that they lament. The voter fears that whatever the hawa that blows, it will be the same hot air.

Times of India

ONE HOPES that the 13th Lok Sabha will throw up a government that will have a stable majority and the resolution to rise above partisan pressures and act in these and other complex matters confronting it, in a manner that serves the national interest.

The Pioneer