Success puts India's new ruling class under pressure

After a resounding performance at the polls – better than any pundits had expected – senior members of India's ruling Congress Party were last night meeting to pick their allies to form the next coalition government to rule the world's largest democracy.

They did so with the luxury and confidence of numbers. After the month-long election left the party just 12 seats short of a simple majority, Congress will able to form a government without relying on any of the country's large regional parties or, for the first time in many years, the Communists.

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Yet the apparent stability of the reelection of the incumbent party may obscure the fact that India's 15th parliamentary election will be remembered for several intriguing subplots. Not least among them will have been the coming of age of a man who will almost certainly become prime minister of the country. Having placed himself at the very centre of his party's campaign and taken responsibility for several deeply controversial tactical decisions, observers believe that Rahul Gandhi, a great grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, could now become premier in as little as two years.

This election may also mark a generational shift. A raft of young candidates close to Mr Gandhi were successfully elected for the first time while another group of youthful politicians who secured reelection are set for ministerial positions. By contrast, the political career of opposition leader LK Advani, whose right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was well beaten, is almost certainly over. Ironically, Varun Gandhi – another politically ambitious scion of the Nehru dynasty, won the seat he was contesting for the BJP after unleashing violently anti-Muslim comments. For now, however, the attention of India is on Rahul, the son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in 1991, and Sonia, who now chairs the Congress party and who was yesterday heading the meeting at its headquarters in south Delhi, close to the India Gate memorial. Already there is talk that the current premier, Manmohan Singh, who has also received credit for the party's election performance, could stand aside in two years. It is likely that Mr Gandhi will take a senior position in the new cabinet.

"Nothing is certain, but common sense suggests that the [promotion of Mr Gandhi to prime minister] will happen sooner rather than later," said veteran commentator MJ Akbar. "Given the dynastic culture of the Congress his anointment was inevitable, but this election gives him some credibility."

As head of the Congress's youth wing, Mr Gandhi has busied himself with efforts to democratise the party, a worthy if somewhat unglamorous task. However, during the election, which took place in five different phases and in which more than 400m people cast their vote, the 38-year-old was its star campaigner, clocking up more than 55,000 miles and visiting almost every state. He took responsibility for the decision not to have pre-poll alliances – a decision that worked well in the all-important state of Uttar Pradesh where the party's tally rose from nine to 21 seats, if less so in Bihar.

"He will take over. My guess is he will wait two years," said Ajay Gudavarthy, a political scientist at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Many analysts said the result was a vote of support for the more liberal economic policies that had been pursued by Mr Singh. Given the level of support the Congress received and given that he will not be held back by the Left – who resigned from the government last year over India's civilian nuclear energy deal with the US – the former economist will feel able to push forward with more regulation. Indeed, the Left suffered its worst election performance for 30 years, losing in heartlands such as West Bengal and Kerala.

At the same time, while a strong mandate gives the prime minister the freedom to pursue market-friendly reforms, Congress party leaders struck a cautious note by saying they would rather focus on reviving domestic demand in the backdrop of the global financial downturn. "Some of the icons of the financial world who were advocating financial reforms have closed shop. We have to be cautious this time," Kamal Nath, the trade minister, told the Associated Press. Mr Gudavarthy said he believed the Congress's policies to tackle poverty in the cities and countryside, in particular a scheme to guarantee rural employment, may have played a greater role in the party's success than the individual personalities of Mr Gandhi and Mr Singh.

The party and its leaders face a huge task. Tavleen Singh, a columnist in The Indian Express, said while she celebrated Congress's victory, as the party which has held power the longest in India she blamed it for the country's broken infrastructure, decaying cities, child malnutrition and appalling education and healthcare. She added: "We have a government that has as full a majority as we have seen in 20 years. It has no excuse now not to deliver."