Another short trip to India and I came away with a wonderful whiff of the new political scene. Which is to say, the return of a past political scene.

Two items of note and progress –

First is the astonishing resurgence of Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. They gave the ruling BJP party a massive trouncing that was as unexpected as it was sweet (to some of us). It was kind of a reverse of the trouncing the AAP had received during the general election (never mind the sweet part; that was so not sweet!).

For those of you who may be interested, the NY Times had great coverage yesterday of this landslide victory, summarizing comprehensively the context, the current political situation, what it means to Delhi, India, AAP, BJP (Modi) and Congress.

That AAP would win such a stunning majority – 67 of the 70 seats contested in Delhi – was something that no pundit or follower had dreamed would happen. Overused as the word is, this comeback is what I can truly call awesome.

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Second was a piece of news that was buried among all the news coverage of the Delhi elections. Quietly first and now not so silently, Nitish Kumar is working to take back control of Bihar. However, clearly this is not going to be easy, as those in power at the Center throw all the roadblocks they can to prevent his comeback. If it happens, the state should be ever so thankful.

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Both pieces of news give hope. It’s never pleasant to see good people lose in politics, no matter what government or country we are talking about. It’s always great to see them come back. As James Bond said (or was it Sean Connery?), never say never again. This time I can say it in the most positive sense.

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