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July 20, 2008
If UPA Scrapes
Through,
Elections Could be in March-April
New Delhi
If the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) scrapes through the
trust vote in parliament July 22, there is a thinking within
influential sections of the Congress party to schedule elections for
March-April next year.
The five-year term of the present Lok Sabha, the people's chamber of
parliament, ends in May 2009.
Those who have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the week gone by
are unanimous in saying that he not only appears confident of
winning the confidence vote, but is already think of life beyond the
vote.
Having felt betrayed by the Left - the prime minister has told his
interlocutors that he has taken the Left leaders into confidence at
every stage - the prime minister is looking at new alliance
partners, the Samajwadi Party, in supporting it in pushing some of
his important reforms in the insurance, retail and pension sectors
that would require legislative changes.
The Left has been dogmatically opposed to these reforms.
On several occasions, Manmohan Singh has pointed out that his
government will last its full term and there was no question of
advancing elections, wanting to carry all its constituents together.
But in the new political realignment with the Samajwadi Party
providing vital support after the Left parties' withdrawal, advisors
close to Singh see a golden opportunity to push ahead with key
reforms that have been on the backburner - if the government
survives.
While many of the government's key flagship social sector programmes
are already up and running and have had a reasonable degree of
success, there have been other economic reforms that the UPA
government has been unable to get off the ground.
"It (government) will probably set a deadline after the trust vote
to accelerate reforms and then call for elections. In this way the
UPA government would have completed its unfinished business,"
sources close to the prime minister said.
The prime minister, say the sources, views the present political
situation as a "calamity" when the country is facing such tough
problems, including inflation that has led to crushing price rise
and thrown household budgets haywire.
And he thinks the government has to work at several measures to
contain what he has been quoted as saying is an "imported inflation"
- brought about by global situations that need concerted handling by
nations collectively to contain the runaway oil and commodity
prices.
But he also thinks that both the Left as well as the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) ditched him - after initially appearing to go
along in supporting the government on the vital nuclear deal with
the US that is crucial for the long-term energy security of the
country.
The prime minister has been telling many of his interlocutors that
energy management will become the predominating foreign policy
preoccupation for countries the world over and India has no escape
but to look at widening its energy options, ensuring access to
dual-use technology that is currently denied and ending the nuclear
apartheid through the nuclear deal with the United States.
IANS
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July 20, 2008
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