Awaiting elections 2019 results: Is the end of the world nigh?

Whether or not May 23 heralds change, there are exaggerated hopes and fears about election results. The manner in which election results are being anticipated suggests high political anxiety.

There is a palpable fear in the air about the electoral outcome on May 23. This is unusual in a democracy where the magnetic poles of politics are reversed roughly every five years, without much fuss. No disasters followed when they flipped in the past.

Yet anxiety and worry seem to mark the wait for the results of the general election this time around. There is furtive political discussion about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming back into power, whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be limited to less than 200 seats or go beyond its past performance, should