What Lula’s Thin Win In Brazil Tells The World

To take on the Right, the Left should always move towards the Centre

- Indrani Bagchi

Brazil joined the “pink tide” in Latin America as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva staged a political comeback that will be the stuff of breathless storytelling. Narrowly squeezing past Jair Bolsonaro, who was the ‘Trump-lite’ leader at the helm of Brazil for the past four years, Lula’s return puts Brazil back in the spotlight. Brazil and India may be continents apart but as the biggest economy in South America, Brazil holds an important space for Indian foreign policy.

To pre-empt Bolsonaro-inspired protests against the results or even challenging of the voting machines, President Joe Biden was almost first off the block to declare the elections to be “free, fair and credible”. PM Modi and the rest of the world have followed suit. However thin his majority, Lula has been acknowledged victor by the world.

Here are some quick takeaways from this election of consequence.

● Bolsonaro received 49% of the vote. That’s pretty big, and keeps the Right-wing leader as a powerful political centre in Brazil.

● In addition, Bolsonaro’s allies control the Congress. Which means at least two things – Lula will face a tough opposition, and second, he will have to curb his deep Left leanings and move closer to the centre.

● That could open the doors for other smaller parties to support him in the legislature.