Are we maturing?

This Indian election has been as fascinating as all the others with its usual non-surprises :-
1. Overall the voting percentage was 60% which is good but I am sure majority out of that is from rural areas. So the apathy of the urban voter towards this exercise continues.
2. A horde of parties contesting, celebrating the concept of the largest democracy
3. A large number of independents trying their luck
4. Casts still playing a dominant role etc.

However, one thing which came as a pleasant surprise to me is the projected results in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Now before you jump to conclusions that I am happy because I am a supporter of a specific group let me clarify my point. It is projected that in AP, Congress and its allies would do well while in Bihar it is BJP+JD(U) combination which is supposed to do well. Further in TN it is expected that DMK led alliance would not do so badly as initially thought. Why was it a surprise? it is so because all these results show that the electorate are recognizing the good work which is being done by the local governments and they are reaffirming their faith in the present ruling setups. This is a welcome change from the tendency of voting for candidates based on caste or regional lines. In AP for example the incumbent CM comes from a caste which is not a majority but still he is doing well. I am not saying that this concept has disappeared from the Indian elections but I am just hoping that these elections show a small light of hope that we are moving towards issue based politics where the actual credentials of the candidate and the past record counts. Its a long journey though.