Dehradun, Jan. 4 -- Does anybody know what the public mandate will be in West Bengal, Kerala, even the BMC in Maharashtra in the coming elections? And why it will have taken that particular shape? Will it just be about who has promised more giveaways, or will more substantial choices have been made? All parties are making claims about ideological, economic and identity policies directed at making people's lives better, but will the people decide on that basis? How realistic will be their expectations? In the BMC there is an even greater lack of clarity about what the mandate will come to mean. For the Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena, it is all about ensuring a Maratha heads the BMC.
Similar confusion existed in the US before the presidentia...