2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

[Guest]

<b>Poll signal in Muslim sops</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->the government presented in Parliament a cushion to a possible Muslim backlash against the UPA being in the company of the United States.

The government’s detailed guidelines on the report of the Sachar panel that had gone into the state of the minority communities in India cover a host of issues:  adequate representation to Muslims in government jobs, institution of a committee to ensure proper representation to the community in legislatures and other sectors.

<b>The guidelines, when read in conjunction with the six per cent hike in DA, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana for the 1.5 crore landless rural households and appointments to gubernatorial vacancies, made it obvious that the government’s actions were prompted by the possibility of early Lok Sabha elections. The first impact of this will be felt in poll-bound and polarised Gujarat</b>.

Having opposed the Sachar panel from its very inception, the BJP was quick to dub the government’s move as another example of its policy to appease the Muslims. Interestingly, the government’s action-taken report on Sachar’s recommendations were cleared by the Cabinet way back in May.

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