The Economist’s India reporting needs a makeover. At the least, it displays a shocking lack of basic knowledge on the current political happenings in India. An article that comments on mid-term polls in India either ignores several key aspects, or gives a one-sided view of things.

The first three years of the UPA’s term has coincided with an unprecedented boom; the economy has expanded by an annual average of.6%. Not that the government can claim too much credit for this—India’s growth has been private-sector-led,….

To be fair, some elements in the desi media do acknowledge that the UPA merely inherited the economic boom that the NDA ushered during its tenure. That the Economist brushes this away displays either ignorance or bias. The article also lists the various projects the UPA has announced but fails to mention the Golden Quadrilateral project that still languishes due to dogmatic political reasons.

What comes across as ridiculous is the analysis on the possible outcome of the mid-term polls. Among other things, the Economist relies on questionable opinion poll data that have a notorious record for being wrong 99% of the time.

According to a survey in early September by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, the UPA would increase its seats from the 222 it won in May 2004 to 267. Meanwhile, the BJP-led coalition, the National Democratic Alliance, would win 133 seats, compared to 189 in 2004. The Left parties’ number of seats in the national parliament would fall to, down from 59.

The article also bungles when it speaks of a possible Congress-BSP tie up.

For Congress, which ruled on its own for decades after independence,there is no shortage of potential coalition partners that could provide the votes it needs for a majority in parliament.

However, a closer-to-reality analysis shows something different:

Mayawati has already been betrayed by Congress. She supported Pratibha Patil in exchange for a massive aid package for UP. The package isn’t forthcoming, they are giving her the runaround. Our reading is thatCongress simply can not afford to make an alliance with Mayawati. Ifthey do, it will be an implicit acknowledgement that Mayawati can be aviable alternative to Congress for Dalit upliftment. This is a huge problem. It is well known that Maya wants to be the PM, eventually….It directly follows that Congress is going to make an alliance with SP.They have two common vote banks. Without Congress, SP does not have aleg to stand on. SP can do Congress’ bidding to create trouble for Mayawati.

As the Acorn rightly concludes, the Economist’s South East Asia bureau badly needs a revamp.