World Notes India

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi won an election victory in the strife-torn state of Punjab last week, even though his Congress (I) Party failed to come out first in the balloting. Gandhi triumphed because a near record 60% of eligible voters defied the threat of terrorism to cast ballots for state and national candidates. Sikhs form a majority in Punjab, a state in which a small band of Sikh militants has pursued a violent campaign for independence since 1981. At stake in the election were 115 state assembly seats and 13 slots in the lower house of the Indian Parliament. Campaign terror was held to a minimum by 150,000 troops and paramilitary forces.

When the votes were counted, the Akali Dal, a moderate Sikh party, had taken almost two-thirds of the state assembly seats, giving it a mandate to carry out a July accord with the central government to resolve long-standing Sikh grievances. No one expects, however, that the terrorists will fade away. "Each member of the new legislative assembly is now a target," said one key official. Still, the election provided strong evidence that the vast majority of Punjabis prefer the politics of the ballot to those of the bullet.