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Two faces of democracy were on view as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh successfully won a crucial vote of confidence in parliament on Tuesday: the transparent and the distasteful.
The waving of large bundles of money by the opposition, alleging bribery, at the well of the house may not be immediately erased from public memory, but Singh and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have nevertheless received an impetus to surge ahead in their bid to enter into a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the US.
But the nuclear deal and the efforts to dismiss allegations of bribery, apparently recorded on video-tape in a sting operation by a TV channel, will not be the only acid test for the prime minister and his government. True, they have been given a lifeline but it will have to be a case of all 'systems go' as they make a bid to control inflation and activate stalled economic reforms. The tactic may be more populist than reformist.
So while the Indian markets celebrated Singh's victory with an upward surge, the focus must now shift to important projects till the end of the government's tenure as elections arrive in May. The UPA do not have the advantage of time on their side therefore Singh and his finance minister P. Chidambaram will have to do some fire-fighting. The efforts to convince the people and the big businesses that price rise will be curbed have so far come to nought, which is why every move from here on will be carefully scrutinised.
The Congress has also faced a few embarrassing defeats in state-level elections over the past year and with the Opposition baying increasingly at their heels, the time will soon come for Singh and his party to pull yet another rabbit out of the hat.
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