08-24-2005, 07:41 AM
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<b>Snap poll buzz grips political class </b>
Pioneer News Service / New Delhi
Politics in India is as much a function of reality as it is of the grapevine. For two consecutive days, political circles, and particularly the Central Hall of Parliament, has been reverberating with speculation of the UPA Government preparing for a snap, mid-term general election, possibly after the Winter session of Parliament.
The bush telegraph got crackling with the apparently inexplicable Government decision to extend the Monsoon session of Parliament by another two days, till August 30. The theory doing the frenzied rounds is that the Government is working overtime to move the Women's Reservation Bill on the penultimate or final day of the present session. Although a consensus on the issue is still absent, there appears to have been a softening in the stand of the Samajwadi Party. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday expressed his readiness to consider a 10 per cent reservation of Lok Sabha seats for women.
The mellowing of Mr Yadav, it is felt, may provide the Government the necessary window of opportunity to rush in with a piece of legislation. Apart from the RJD, which is still battling for quotas within a quota, all other major parties have left it to the Government to find a way out. The CPI (M) says it is willing to overlook its misgivings for the sake of consensus and the BJP says it has given the Government a "blank cheque".
If moved, the Women's Reservation Bill will in all probability be referred to a Standing Committee. However, that in itself is enough to energise the Congress into tom-toming its commitment to empowerment. Coupled with the Rural Employment Guarantee Act that has already cleared the Lok Sabha, Congress circles believe they have two political aces with which to face the electorate.
August 30 promises to be a crucial day for the political speculators. The Supreme Court will decide whether or not to stay the election process in Bihar, pending the disposal of the suit on the imposition of President's Rule. In terms of expectations, the wait for the SC verdict has witnessed a role reversal. The UPA constituents are hoping for a stay, despite its implications on the legality of the midnight decision. The NDA, ironically, is quietly hoping the election process will be given the green signal.
If the Bihar election is stayed, the UPA gets time to play its two aces, but for a national audience. For the NDA, however, an immediate test in Bihar is crucial to its bid to effect a comeback on the national stage. If Bihar gives its thumbs down to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Congress will think twice about a snap poll. An alternative verdict, say the speculators, makes a winter poll inevitable.
Either way, political punters and "informed sources" are having a field day. With the Sensex in a corrective mode, politics is back in the betting game.
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<b>Snap poll buzz grips political class </b>
Pioneer News Service / New Delhi
Politics in India is as much a function of reality as it is of the grapevine. For two consecutive days, political circles, and particularly the Central Hall of Parliament, has been reverberating with speculation of the UPA Government preparing for a snap, mid-term general election, possibly after the Winter session of Parliament.
The bush telegraph got crackling with the apparently inexplicable Government decision to extend the Monsoon session of Parliament by another two days, till August 30. The theory doing the frenzied rounds is that the Government is working overtime to move the Women's Reservation Bill on the penultimate or final day of the present session. Although a consensus on the issue is still absent, there appears to have been a softening in the stand of the Samajwadi Party. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday expressed his readiness to consider a 10 per cent reservation of Lok Sabha seats for women.
The mellowing of Mr Yadav, it is felt, may provide the Government the necessary window of opportunity to rush in with a piece of legislation. Apart from the RJD, which is still battling for quotas within a quota, all other major parties have left it to the Government to find a way out. The CPI (M) says it is willing to overlook its misgivings for the sake of consensus and the BJP says it has given the Government a "blank cheque".
If moved, the Women's Reservation Bill will in all probability be referred to a Standing Committee. However, that in itself is enough to energise the Congress into tom-toming its commitment to empowerment. Coupled with the Rural Employment Guarantee Act that has already cleared the Lok Sabha, Congress circles believe they have two political aces with which to face the electorate.
August 30 promises to be a crucial day for the political speculators. The Supreme Court will decide whether or not to stay the election process in Bihar, pending the disposal of the suit on the imposition of President's Rule. In terms of expectations, the wait for the SC verdict has witnessed a role reversal. The UPA constituents are hoping for a stay, despite its implications on the legality of the midnight decision. The NDA, ironically, is quietly hoping the election process will be given the green signal.
If the Bihar election is stayed, the UPA gets time to play its two aces, but for a national audience. For the NDA, however, an immediate test in Bihar is crucial to its bid to effect a comeback on the national stage. If Bihar gives its thumbs down to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Congress will think twice about a snap poll. An alternative verdict, say the speculators, makes a winter poll inevitable.
Either way, political punters and "informed sources" are having a field day. With the Sensex in a corrective mode, politics is back in the betting game.
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