Congress May Call For Mid Term Poll

ramana · 03-22-2005, 09:48 PM

Viren, NDA has not yet recovered from its defeat. The passage of the Patents Bill means that the Pension reform bill too will pass. The NDA supports that bill and if it shows signs of opposing it the Left will step in to make sure the govt doesnt fall.

03-22-2005, 10:27 PM

Ramana is right. NDA should not be the reason why this Govt. falls. They have to keep pressure on them and discredit the COMMIES and CONmen coalition. They have to wait it out until CONmen, NCP, RJD and COMMIES can't stand each other anymore. DMK is already hating CONmen. NCP hates them fully. If Lallo doesn't get power in 3 months, he will go crazy. NDA should bring the contrdictions to the fore and let the MAFIA lords kill each other.

03-23-2005, 12:43 AM

Not sure if we need a separate thread. Maybe this can be merged with "elections is coming" thread ???

http://www.indiareacts.com/nati2.asp?recno=3229

QUOTECongress talks with Jayalalithaa rocky

22 March 2005: Following M.Karunanidhiâs refusal to share power in Tamil Nadu, the Congress has opened negotiations with J.Jayalalithaa, but she has demanded that the UPA sever links with the DMK in the Centre.

Already daily threatened by Laloo Prasad Yadav for the imposed Presidentâs rule in Bihar, sources said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not want to take any new gamble in Tamil Nadu, because Karunanidhi is already in talks with the Bihar strongman to revive the Third Front with Sharad Pawar and Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Sources said that despite an outward show of hostility, Mulayam is coaxing Laloo to quit the UPA for a Third Front government, the idea being that if the DMK, Sharad Pawarâs NCP, Samajwadi Party and RJD give notice of opting out, the Left would be forced to join them, therefore automatically collapsing the arrangement in the Centre.

The anti-Congress parties in the UPA feel that the Congress will not abandon attempts to grow in North India and in other states of its allies, and this growth can only be at their cost, which cannot be tolerated.

03-23-2005, 12:54 AM

QUOTE"elections is coming" thread ???

YES, merged it

03-23-2005, 03:00 AM

Some more good news from down south

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=4

Now it's no holds barred in Kerala

Pioneer News Service/ PTI/ Thiruvananthapuram/ New Delhi

In stepped-up dissident activities by Karunakaran faction in Kerala's ruling Congress, a minister loyal to the veteran leader on Tuesday resigned even as 13 MLAs supporting him were served showcause notices for attending a rally defying the party high command. Karunakaran loyalist MLAs, however, asserted they have not violated any whip by attending the rally in Kochi on Monday.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy rejected the resignation of Culture Minister AP Anil Kumar, who quit overnight saying Chandy had lost trust in him. Chandy announced in the Assembly that he was not accepting the resignation of Kumar, though he had received his letter before leaving for Gujarat to take part in the Dandi yatra.

According to political pundits, the resignation of Kumar was considered a fall out of the squabbles within the Congress party. Kumar, a Karunakaran man all along, did not attended the legislature party meeting held on Monday at the behest of the Chief Minister. The meeting was held to decide the new deputy of the CLP after the post fell vacant with the removal of MP Gangadharan who had taken part in the Karunakaran-led rally in Thiruvananthpuram. Kumar said he did not want to be a part of the decision to replace senior leader Gangadharan. "The Chief Minister did not seek my resignation and the decision to quit is my own," Anil Kumar said.

Meanwhile, criticising the high headedness of the Chief Minister, leader of the factional 'I' group, Karunakaran said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi must interfere in this issue directly or else there could be a division in the party.

He further alleged that the Chief Minister must have forced Kumar to take such an action.

But though Chandy did not accept the resignation of Kumar, he issued show cause notices to 13 Congress MLAs for attending a rally organized by Karunakaran's faction in Kochi defying the high command. Chandy in his capacity as CLP leader asked the MLAs to explain why they attended the rally asking them to reply within two days or face action.

In a reply drafted by the MLAs at a meeting held at Karunakaran's house, they are understood to have said that they had neither disobeyed the high command nor violated the CLP whip and questioned Chandy's claim that the rally was organised by Muraleedharan. The rally, they said, was inaugurated by Congress party's national leader Karunakaran.

In New Delhi, AIC incharge of Kerala affairs Ahmed Patel warned that action would be taken against leaders fanning rebellion within the party. "We are not going to buckle under pressure and you can expect some action in two days against who ever has broken party discipline." Sources indicated that Karunakaran's son K Muraleedharan may be expelled from the party.

Patel seemed unimpressed by the praise heaped by Karunakaran and his son and suspended former PCC chief K Muraleedharan on the Gandhi family and pointed to the fact that two leaders had attacked the Chandy government.

Meanwhile, senior leader KV Thomas, who had been negotiating a peace deal on behalf of Congress working committee member AK Antony, met Sonia Gandhi and favoured initiation of disciplinary action against dissident leaders in Kerala.

03-28-2005, 12:52 AM

QUOTEMess in UP & Bihar: Cong answer is Rahul & struggle

Sanjay K Jha/ New Delhi

Worried about the party's inability in regaining the lost ground in vital states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leadership is working on a multi-dimensional strategy. While it plans to bolster the leadership front by bringing Rahul Gandhi as AICC general secretary, the party has devised a twin strategy of Gandhian agitation and Nehruvian development to impress all sections of the society in these states.

Sources in the party reveal there is a strong chance of Rahul Gandhi being made general secretary in the next organisational reshuffle, which according to senior leaders, will not only widen the extent of his political activity but also solve the leadership crisis in the Hindi heartland. Through his activities in Amethi, Rahul has already established himself as a modern, forward-looking politician committed to development and his induction in Sonia Gandhi's team will also be used to woo the middle class and the forward castes in the entire country.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has been organising issue-based agitations and is trying to project itself as the real Opposition party. While Rahul Gandhi's presence is a big attraction for the forward castes, through Salman Khurshid as PCC president, it is trying to break the Samajwadi Party's Muslim votebank. To win over the Dalits and the downtrodden, it is trying to project its welfare programmes being carried out by the Central Government.

The Congress also organised a huge Dalit panchayat in Lucknow, where former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's Bhopal declaration was presented as a model programme for their uplift. Though after Mr Singh's defeat, the Congress appeared to have forgotten the Bhopal declaration, there are leaders in the party who treat the document as an incredible work.

At a time when the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is holding Brahmin sammelans, the Congress has kept focus on the poor and the Dalits, talking about reservations, land allotments, and other welfare schemes. The party has also been talking of developing small sub-urban centres into cities by giving a strong commercial push through developmental schemes.

The party has also used Rahul Gandhi to woo the younger generation by holding youth camps and taking up issues dear to them. Apart from proper caste mobilisation, if the party succeeds in triggering small movements at block and district levels on livelihood issues, the party feels it would be able make a solid support base in a year's time.

In Bihar, the party is entirely clueless about its next move, but one directive that has gone to Governor Buta Singh is that the law and order situation should be improved. Senior leaders believe the Bihar's society will be grateful to the Congress if any degree of success is achieved on that front and on that goodwill the party can try to build up its political agenda.

There is also speculation about the change of PCC leadership. Sources in the party say Mr Ramjatan Sinha himself wanted to put in his papers owning moral responsibility for the humiliating defeat in the State. Sources said, he kept trying in vain for an appointment with Ms Sonia Gandhi for a week. Ms Gandhi probably did't meet him as there is no plan of action for Bihar as yet.

ramana · 03-29-2005, 12:59 AM

deccan.com still rants. BTW it was an article by this writer that is at the top of this thread.

QUOTECongressâ summer of excitement
Solitics by Siddhartha Reddy

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh violated the oath to protect the Constitution the moment he advised Narendra Modi to cancel his London trip. A Chief Ministerâs security, outside his State, within India or abroad, is the Union governmentâs responsibility.

Death threats must not prevent a constitutional functionary from representing the people. Itâs Modiâs constitutional right to travel unhindered to any country, if visa is given, to represent the Gujaratis. No Prime Minister can deny that right. India has been bleeding because of the insurgency sponsored by Pakistan. Yet India will host, provide security and ensure Gen. Musharrafâs safe return home once he visits India. So instead of forcing UK to provide him security, advising the Gujarat CM to cancel his visit is unacceptable.

When the US denied a visa to Modi, the foreign ministry spokesman should have said that India regrets the denial to a constitutionally elected head of a state government. Full stop. The Prime Minister and his finance and home ministers should not have dragged India into begging with the US. Natwar Singh has a pro-China and an anti-US bias which overwhelmed ministerial responsibility. He was itching to find fault with the US.

There is no point in the Congress demonising Modi to psyche Muslims to win elections. If when in power, the Congress fails to make Modi accountable, it should stop painting him a villain. The Congress betrayed millions of voters. Not just Muslims and Christians, but many Hindus who voted for the UPA, and wanted Modi punished for any âprovedâ involvement in the Gujarat riots.Â

The voters expected the UPA to impose Presidentâs Rule in Gujarat, the day it was sworn in. If Modi was guilty, then Gujarat Assembly should have been dissolved. If found innocent, then Modi should have been restored as chief minister. That would have stopped this pointless blame game.

When a serious international issue (Modiâs visa-denial) unfolded, then Sonia Gandhi should have called an emergency meeting of the CWC, the Congress CMs and the diplomats who have joined the Congress. In fact, she must constitute a political foreign policy advisory group comprising Eduardo Faleiro, Vinod Grover and Ambika Soni, to cross-check the PM-FMâs bureaucratic formulae before announcing decisions. BJP president L.K. Advani must also do something similar.
India is cursed with the double tragedy of Manmohan as PM and Sonia as Congress president.

Together, they constitute the worst ever political leadership. Serious national and international issues are being dealt with disastrously. It is almost akin to having no government. Preoccupation with resource mobilisation spares neither time, energy nor intent to take mature, wise and correct political decisions.Â 

Sonia is surrounded by a useless coterie. She had everything going for her. She had unquestioned authority as Congress president with a self-created, artificial halo of renouncing the prime ministerial chair. The allies were prostrating before the mighty UPA chairperson to secure a better slice of the government cake. The BJP was led by tired old men refusing to retire and surrounded by rootless wonders. But Sonia committed political suicide.

Three hundred and forty MPs chose Sonia to be PM. Yet destiny intervened cruelly depriving her lifeâs greatest moment. She was tripped at the Rashtrapati Bhavan threshold. In trying to regain her balance, Sonia involuntarily pushed Manmohan into the prime ministerial chair. Sonia never said that she will never again try to be PM. Her desire to become PM was difficult to contain, after a presidential speed-breaker applied the brakes.

Intelligence agencies track destabilisation. Especially, efforts to form non-Congress governments with BJPâs outside support, by some conspiring allies inspired by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar and M. Karunanidhi. Sonia is briefed daily. An alternative government would forever destroy her prospects of becoming PM. Realising that her allies would flex their muscles, she strategised to reduce the electoral relevance of her allies in Bihar-Jharkhand. So that alliesâ shrunk electoral space would automatically increase Congressâ electoral space.

Soniaâs dream scenario was a runaway Haryana victory, a Jharkhand victory and a Congress CM in Bihar backed by a deflated Lalu; or Presidentâs Rule with Lalu forever prostrating at her feet to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants. The intention was to grab UP, call snap Lok Sabha polls, along with mid-term polls to Bihar-UP Assemblies. She could then conjure a grand national alliance to win 215 seats.

Then, with the ever willing 60 Communist MPs, no speed-breaker, presidential or otherwise, could stop her from becoming PM in 2005 itself. But her strategy boomeranged. The allies lost governments and the Congress lost votes and seats. A dead BJP secured oxygen from her to rise as a zombie from the 2004 electoral grave. But the BJP is yet to come to life.

The UPA was born 10 months ago, but was patented only last week by Kamal Nath. Sonia needs more like him. Soniaâs image collapse has brought out the knives, pressurising apex changes. Arjun Singh is mobilising a campaign to liberate Sonia from the Ambika-Ahmed Patel hold. This summer Sonia could effect a coterie transplant, massively overhauling the CWC, AICC, PCCs, Cabinet, CMs and governors. She will replace Uttaranchalâs N.D. Tiwari, Delhiâs Sheila Dikshit, Assamâs Tarun Kumar Gogoi. Rahul wants Karnatakaâs Dharam Singh sacked. It will be an exciting summer ahead for the Congress.

The damage control process has been initiated. An angry Lalu has been placated with assurances of just a few months of Presidentâs Rule culminating in fresh elections, with aÂ grand Bihar alliance of RJD-Communist-NCP-Congress abandoning Ram Vilas Paswan. Shibu Soren and Stephen Marandi have been assured of the toppling of the BJP government.

Since Soniaâs image is beyond repair, the best defence for her is offence, by taking the battle to her opponentsâ turf: the target is to destroy Mulayam. Two have been arrested in UP for smuggling in weapons-grade nuclear-material. Interrogation reveals a politician-business-smuggler nexus. The Centre might cite national security to impose Presidentâs Rule. Security implications will force Communist compliance. The BJP too cannot abdicate national security to help Mulayam. 

The intention is also to make the BJP look worse than the Congress. Dossiers have been compiled over 10 months on NDA corruption. On her signal, the UPA could unleash CBI, tax and enforcement agencies on Vajpayee, Advani and other leaders. There is talk about investigating and arresting Pramod Mahajan, courtesy The Asian Age expose and Nirupam memorandum. âIn politics there is no murder, just suicide,â goes a Telugu saying. The NDA committed electoral suicide ushering in the NDA. Sonia-led UPA indulgence in self-stabbing could usher in chaos.
Dear reader, you can send any information secured on politics, conspiracies and corruption to siddharthareddy@deccanmail.com. Your identity will be protected

03-29-2005, 01:34 AM

QUOTE(ramana @ Mar 29 2005, 12:59 AM) deccan.com still rants. BTW it was an article by this writer that is at the top of this thread.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTECongressâ summer of excitement
Solitics by Siddhartha Reddy

Three hundred and forty MPs chose Sonia to be PM. Yet destiny intervened cruelly depriving her lifeâs greatest moment. She was tripped at the Rashtrapati Bhavan threshold. In trying to regain her balance, Sonia involuntarily pushed Manmohan into the prime ministerial chair. Sonia never said that she will never again try to be PM. Her desire to become PM was difficult to contain, after a presidential speed-breaker applied the brakes.

 </div>
What does he mean by this Rashtrapati Bhavan tripped her in her quest to be PM? Didn't she do supreme sacrifice for the sake of billion Indians? <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

03-29-2005, 02:31 AM

QUOTEDossiers have been compiled over 10 months on NDA corruption. On her signal, the UPA could unleash CBI, tax and enforcement agencies on Vajpayee, Advani and other leaders.
Credibility of Congress is zero. This will be sucide or la-emergency.

QUOTE This summer Sonia could effect a coterie transplant, massively overhauling the CWC, AICC, PCCs, Cabinet, CMs and governors. She will replace Uttaranchalâs N.D. Tiwari, Delhiâs Sheila Dikshit, Assamâs Tarun Kumar Gogoi. Rahul wants Karnatakaâs Dharam Singh sacked
Excellent. Another Congress split is coming.

ramana · 04-15-2005, 02:36 AM

Mudy, I really think this guy is plugged in. Note the new CBI cases against GF at the INC insistence. So that is the game paln. Let the GOI machinery loose on the enemy and then talk about law taking course. WHo cares if the guy is innocent? The damage is done in the public eye.

04-15-2005, 04:10 AM

Congress is after 2nd level BJP leadership and Fernandes. Question is how far they will go. It is very much possible witch hunt can backfire.

**shamu** · 04-15-2005, 02:19 PM

I'll see an opportunity for RSS and VHP in this. They should withdraw from the scene and let all those highly secular BJP and NDA leaders fight this dirty battle themselves. They will certainly need the cadre support of RSS and VHP to fight the battle in the next election. Do a hard bargain and help them. More they do and target specifically other NDA partners it will be good for RSS/VHP to make them align with them.

Other side of this game is that Congress makes NDA partners to switch alliance to avoid targetting them.

04-22-2005, 09:49 PM

QUOTEPawar tells Karunakaran to open dialogue with Left Front 
Pioneer news service/ New delhi
Veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran is seriously exploring the possibility of joining the Left Front in Kerala to inflict maxim damage on the Congress in the fortcoming civic polls and next year's assembly elections.

On Friday, Mr Karunakaran hada 40-minute meeting with NCP leader Sharad Pawar and then had a telephonic conversation with CPI general secretary AB Bardhan.

Sources said that meeting with Mr Pawar took place at the initiative of Mr Karunakaran, who hinted at a possible alliance with the Left Front after formally announcing formation of a regional party in Kerala on May 1.

While backing Mr Karunakaran's gameplan, Mr Pawar reportedly asked him to discuss the matter with the leaders of the Left Front. Wasting no time, Karunakaran straightaway talked to Mr Bardhan 
So that they can use or abuse other two major parties as and when required.

04-22-2005, 09:57 PM

Pioneer-
Hurt Sheila hits back with show of strength
QUOTESources in the party said that on Friday the strength in the dissident camp was down to 14 with six legislators deciding to remain fence-sitters. Among the fence sitters are also those legislators who owe direct allegiance to Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress President. Talking to The Pioneer a senior Congress leader, inimical to Ms Dikshit, said that with every passing day it is becoming increasingly clear that the crisis was orchestrated at the behest of AICC general secretary Ambica Soni.

"Those who spewed venom on that day have all been associated with Ambica Soni at sometime or other. There were charges made against Ms Soni of protecting Ashok Gehlot during latter's disastrous tenure in the Chief Minister's office in Rajasthan. Does it surprise you that same Mr Gehlot was presiding over the facade created at the DPCC office," said the leader.

Not related to topic but it seems inside fighting may derail mid-term poll dream.

04-26-2005, 01:49 AM

QUOTEUPA throws weight behind Lalu charged with 420
The charges were framed under 420, 120b,467,468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 13 (2),13 (1d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Should we start countdown.
Commies are dreaming Karkat as PM. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

04-27-2005, 10:00 PM

Lalu meets Manmohan
QUOTEThe meeting took place in the Prime Minister's chamber in Parliament House, sources said.

It was not immediately known what transpired at the meeting which came days after a special CBI court framed charges against the former Bihar Chief Minister in the multi-crore fodder scandal, throwing both Houses of Parliament into turmoil with the Opposition demanding his dismissal.

Later, the Railway Minister also met UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, at her official residence 10-Janpath. 

The meeting assumes significance as a Special CBI court hearing the multi-crore fodder scam today rejected the discharge petition of Prasad and nine others in connection with the "fraudulent" withdrawal of Rs 3.31 crores from Dumka Treasury.

05-06-2005, 02:55 AM

The Moving Finger Writes
How Long will the UPA last?

By M.V. Kamath

QUOTEHome > 2005 Issues > May 08, 05

HOW long will the United Progressive Alliance under the leadership of the Congress last and when will the unnatural coalition, supported from outside by the unreliable Communist Party (M) come down like a pack of cards? Already there are signs of strain within the Alliance, which is just about a year old.

The CPM's Harkishen Singh Surjeet and the CPI's A.B. Bardhan have already expressed deep reservations about the longevity of the UPA government in Delhi, following the fiasco in Goa and Jharkhand and the reportedly âreckless economic reformsâ pursued by the Sonia Congress. 

Consider what Mr Pranab Mukherjee who is supposedly close to Sonia Gandhi recently told a television channel. He said: âI don't think that there is any danger to the present government, but I cannot say we will complete the full five-year terms.â This was said in all seriousness.

Then we have Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet's testimony in cold print. Writes Mr Surjeet Singh in an article in People's Democracy: âThe present national-level co-relation of forces cannot continue for long.â And he was, of course, addressing his own party workers. And then we have the testomony of Mr Bardhan, the CPI leader who recently told the party meeting in Chandigarh that the CPI will work for a âcredible alternativeâ at the Centre, minus both the Congress and the BJP. Mr Bardhan, it is clear, has a wonderful sense of humour. There has been no reaction to Mr Pranab Mukherjee's statement in Congress party circles. Leaders, no doubt, are waiting for clearance from Sonia Gandhi who, till the other day, was trying to catch the nation's attention by attempting to re-live the Mahatma's Dandi marchâbut with no effect.

Some Congressmen reportedly tried to dismiss Pranab Mukherjee's remarks by saying they were his âpersonal viewsâ. But such âpersonal viewsâ are not expressed openly unless there are strong reasons for doing so. It is clear that the United Progressive Alliance is not united, is hardly progressive and certainly is not much of an alliance. But what is most laughable is Mr Bardhan's hope that the CPI could put together a âcredible alternativeâ at the Centre by exploring prospects of forming a âthird frontâ, no doubt consisting of progressive champions of democracy like Mayawati and Lalu Prasad Yadav. And, who knows, the CPI (Maoist) specialising in murder and arson as well. 

Mukherjee would not have expressed his doubts about the possible longevity of the UPA government without sound reason and inside knowledge of what is going on. By his statement, Mukherjee has sounded the warning gong. The Congress cannot fight the communists. Only the BJP can.

The question that demands an answer is what kind of credibility do the Leftists, of any and every persuasionâhave in the country? West Bengal is in a thorough mess. After nearly three decades of communist rule, the state has been reduced to penury. Its debt has risen to one lakh crore of rupees and nobody says a word about it. Jyoti Basu's Communist party has now been reduced to a party of thugs and gangstersâand this admission comes from the officials of the party themselves.

Only the other day Mr Azim Premji made a powerful attack on the âbundh cultureâ in West Bengal. A day after his attack comes news that the authorities who produce Amul milk in West Bengal are fed up with terrorism let loose on them by government officials. The charge against Amul is that they are producing more milk! Not less!Â <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' />Â In any civilised state, a manufacturer would be complimented for producing more of any product and thus providing jobs for more people. In West Bengal, a private party is not allowed to produce more than the norms laid down by the government.

Mr Rahul Kumar, Managing Director, Amul, has been quoted as saying that he is âfed upâ with the state government's attitude and that he ânever imagined that he would have to face such a situationâ in West Bengal. Poor man. He evidently does not know how a corrupt communist government works.

Amul has a milk processing plant at a place called Chanditala. The communist government had imposed an order on the plant limiting its production to 80,000 liters per day. But peasants are producing more milk and the plant happily went on to process 1,30,000 liters a day to the delightâand profitâof the milkmen in the surrounding areas. This is resented by Buddhadev Bhattacharjee's communist government which apparently runs a milk plant of its own and does not want competition from an efficient and incorruptible plant such as Amul. Hence the harassment of Amul authorities. If Amul has its way it can increase its production to 2,25,000 liters a day most successfully. The communist government of West Bengal does not want more production. Nor is it interested in peasants' prosperity. It is interested only in power. To think, therefore, that the Leftists will establish a âcredible alternativeâ in Delhi is a joke. They have some base in West Bengal and in Kerala. Elsewhere in this vast coutnry they don't have a leg to stand on. They have no credibility. And if they are in power in West Bengal it is out of pure communist goondagiri. Right from the village panchayat level to the highest administrative level, the state is governed by naked terrorism. Industrialists do not want to move in, and their worries have now been publicly articulated by the likes of Azim Premji. So where do we go from here? Pranab Mukherjee would not have expressed his doubts about the possible longevity of the UPA government without sound reason and inside knowledge of what is going on. By his statement, Mukherjee has sounded the warning gong. The Congress cannot fight the communists. Only the BJP can. And the country must know that.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress government finds itself helpless in the face of a Naxalite threat. If this helplessness is prolonged, one may witness large-scale flight of capital from the state such has been witnessed in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh will be utterly ruined. It is only in a Congress state can ruthless and known murderers walk freely and terrorise people. It doesn't happen in Gujarat. There is a moral here.

Indians everywhere must take note of Pranab Mukherjee's admission and get ready for a fresh general election any time in the coming months. We don't need a weak and effeminate party like the Congress to meekly succumb to communist demands. The communist record in West Bengal clearly shows that the communists are incapable of taking care of the poor and the needy. They must be shown the doorâand the earlier the better. We don't need West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh being replicated all over the country to the detriment of Mother India.

A wise and patriotic Congress will seek BJP support, instead of depending on communists who can only bring ruin and shame on the nation. It is sad that the Congress does not know who its friends areâand who its enemies. Enemies, not only of the Congress, but of the country at large. It is time it wakes up to reality as apparently Pranab Mukherjee has.

05-07-2005, 03:09 AM

QUOTEShourie didn't try to get best deals for Centaur hotels: CAG
Fresh blows for NDA in defence deals
George threatens to move court over Phukan report
CAG trains guns on 'India Shining' blitz
Babu's meeting with DMK chief sparks Third Front rumours
Govt not to table Nanavati Report
Mukherjee Panel: SC dismisses petition
If you read today's Pioneer newspaper heading, Probability to have Election in 2005 are very high.

05-08-2005, 10:37 PM

QUOTEAttitude is a problem
Unrepentant traditionalists will attribute it to the unfavourable constellation of stars and planets and more conventional analysts will cite human failure. Whatever be the final judgment on the decision-making process, few can deny that the Opposition NDA has painted itself into a hideous corner by persisting in its boycott of Parliament.

It is not that the NDA leadership had no valid reason to be angry with the Government. Despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's protestations of innocence and his sense of feigned injury, there is enough evidence to suggest that the Government reneged on an agreement to resolve the parliamentary stalemate. Individual Ministers may have wanted to meet the Opposition half-way but the invisible hands that actually control the Government were bent on provoking the NDA into adventurism. If Opposition participation was a priority for the Government, was it necessary for AICC General Secretary Ambika Soni to demand an apology from the NDA leaders? Why was the Prime Minister's media adviser instructed to say that his boss would take further steps to break the deadlock after Manmohan Singh had agreed to sit with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Jaswant Singh to thrash out the matter once and for all?

Politics, unfortunately, is not only about reality. A democracy runs on the strength of perceptions. In the battle of communications, it is the NDA that has come out second-best. It has failed to convince even its own supporters that the boycott decision was grounded in either good sense or good politics. What began as a ritual protest against Lalu Prasad Yadav and "tainted" Ministers was extended into a war against the "attitude" of the Government and the insincerity of the Prime Minister. The decision left all those who don't have privileged access to the Central Hall of Parliament completely mystified. It is possible to take political positions against Lalu and other disreputable worthies who are Ministers. But how do you explain your anger against something as abstract as the Government's "attitude"? No wonder it is the NDA that has ended up looking irresponsible and petulant.

It all boils down to impulsiveness prevailing over calculation. Fully aware of the public disquiet over the unending disruption of Parliament, the Government carefully orchestrated the NDA boycott. It calculated that it would be politically prudent to ensure that the NDA stayed out rather than the Speaker being ultimately compelled to take action against Lalu's boisterous brigade. The Government dug a ditch, offered sufficient provocation. The NDA rose to the bait and fell headlong into a trap.

The Government has driven home its advantage by projecting the Prime Minister as a gentleman who has been at the receiving end of a campaign of calumny. It has used a captive Parliament to launch a major political onslaught aimed at puncturing the integrity of the earlier NDA Government. It has watched with glee as a disoriented NDA has had its internal unity compromised and the Telugu Desam Party opting to go its own way.

It is unlikely that the Government will offer the NDA a face-saving way out of its present predicament. The Opposition will have to sit out the rest of the session without having derived any mileage from the boycott. Logic dictates that it now swallows its pride, effects a tactical retreat and lives to fight another day.

It would be instructive for the NDA to consider how such miscalculations can be avoided in future. Neither will the Government's "attitude" change and nor will Somnath Chatterjee be cured of his saffron allergy. The NDA must learn to operate in Parliament within these constraints.

It must first free itself from the wishful belief that the collapse of the UPA Government is imminent and can be triggered by engineering a political crisis. It is this adventurism that was responsible for the coalition taking such an extreme, but ultimately counter-productive, step. The NDA must reconcile itself to a long haul. It must prepare for a slow war of attrition.

05-09-2005, 11:33 PM

Another Election soon
QUOTEAnother election soon?
According to senior Congressmen, who are known to enjoy the confidence of Sonia Gandhi, a general election sometime later this year cannot be ruled out.

And credence to this theory has been lent by none other than Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan.

He shared his fear of an early general election with a couple of his confidants recently.

Sonia's advisers believe that given the disarray in the Opposition ranks, and given Prime Minister Singh's generally positive image, it may be propitious to try and bolster the number of Congress members in the Lok Sabha by going in for, say, a December poll.

If you believe Paswan, the Congress would seek votes this time around on a twin plank.

One, to give it enough seats so that it does not need to take the support of 'tainted' politicians like Lalu Prasad Yadav; and second, to make Sonia Gandhi prime minister.

But, without it making any headway in the crucial states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress might find raising its strength difficult

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