Congress may opt for March polls
Party leaders eager to cash in on favourable lead shown in various opinion polls as soon as possible.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: As the ruling side readies its political arsenal for the electoral battle with handouts and promises to act on reports with strong sectional appeal, some straws in the wind suggest the possibility of the Congress deciding to opt for Lok Sabha elections in March. Although there are several ifs and buts for taking the call on polls, the dominant feeling in the Congress is that the lead shown in various opinion polls may not be stable enough to gamble upon if it waited beyond March.
The Left, which has already made it clear that no one can convince it on the Indo-US nuclear deal, has already put its constituents on the election mode, anticipating polls after a vote-on-account.
Their assessment of the Congress calling off the political deal with the Left stems from the fact that the government cannot delay negotiations with the IAEA on the India-specific safeguards beyond mid-October. As the Vienna talks are going to be as complex as the 123 agreement, any further delay would jeopardise the efforts to make the deal ready for the US Congress’ ratification by end-February.
The biggest factor that is encouraging the Congress to take the plunge is the perceived disarray in the rival side.
A section of the Congress is of the view that a delay in approaching the electorate will give the NDA an opportunity to put its house in order. This assessment is not off the mark as the past week has seen the BJP managing to repair the damage in its alliance with the Shiv Sena. BJP leader LK Advani is also expected to begin negotiations with J Jayalalitha on a possible political pact on September 18. There are indications that the BJP may try to sort out its internal troubles at the meeting of its national executive later this month.
The Congress leadership is also not certain how the Indo-US nuclear deal would play out in the election. With its rivals attempting to project the engagement with “anti-Islam” US as something that offends the sensitivities of the community, there is fear of the Congress facing Muslim disaffection. But a section of the party feels that a victory for the BJP in the November Gujarat polls could force the community to back its electoral project as the UPA is the “only credible front” that can stop BJP from taking over the reins at the Centre.
However, the shoe will really pinch on two critical issues — inflation and agriculture. On the first issue, the government has to pull out all stops to ensure that there is no untoward rise in the prices of essential commodities in the next festival season. The government faced immense problems during the same period last year.
But this time things are worse as the government is unable to access commodities like wheat in the global market, except for a high price. The erratic monsoon may also have impacted on the rice production. The fact that the government was willing to pay an exorbitant price for its wheat imports underlines the anxiety in the government.
The Left, which has already made it clear that no one can convince it on the Indo-US nuclear deal, has already put its constituents on the election mode, anticipating polls after a vote-on-account.
Their assessment of the Congress calling off the political deal with the Left stems from the fact that the government cannot delay negotiations with the IAEA on the India-specific safeguards beyond mid-October. As the Vienna talks are going to be as complex as the 123 agreement, any further delay would jeopardise the efforts to make the deal ready for the US Congress’ ratification by end-February.
The biggest factor that is encouraging the Congress to take the plunge is the perceived disarray in the rival side.
A section of the Congress is of the view that a delay in approaching the electorate will give the NDA an opportunity to put its house in order. This assessment is not off the mark as the past week has seen the BJP managing to repair the damage in its alliance with the Shiv Sena. BJP leader LK Advani is also expected to begin negotiations with J Jayalalitha on a possible political pact on September 18. There are indications that the BJP may try to sort out its internal troubles at the meeting of its national executive later this month.
The Congress leadership is also not certain how the Indo-US nuclear deal would play out in the election. With its rivals attempting to project the engagement with “anti-Islam” US as something that offends the sensitivities of the community, there is fear of the Congress facing Muslim disaffection. But a section of the party feels that a victory for the BJP in the November Gujarat polls could force the community to back its electoral project as the UPA is the “only credible front” that can stop BJP from taking over the reins at the Centre.
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However, the shoe will really pinch on two critical issues — inflation and agriculture. On the first issue, the government has to pull out all stops to ensure that there is no untoward rise in the prices of essential commodities in the next festival season. The government faced immense problems during the same period last year.
But this time things are worse as the government is unable to access commodities like wheat in the global market, except for a high price. The erratic monsoon may also have impacted on the rice production. The fact that the government was willing to pay an exorbitant price for its wheat imports underlines the anxiety in the government.
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