The Hindu Business Line : Lone gainer?

A colleague recently met a Congress heavy weight and without asking got a low down on the current political situation. From the Congress perspective, that party is said to be the only one to gain from the current political uncertainty and possible general elections. According to the party functionary, the Left parties, particularly CPI (M), are in a bit of a spot in both its strongholds — Kerala and West Bengal — because of intense faction fight in the first an d a host of issues in the other, ranging from Nandigram and Singur to alleged police involvement in the death of a young man in Kolkata.

Even some of the allies of the Congress, such as the Lalu Prasad-led RJD, are reportedly uncomfortable with prospect of early elections since Nitish Kumar is yet to attract the anti-incumbency factor in Bihar from where the RJD is supposed to get its seats. The situation in Tamil Nadu is also fluid making the DMK a bit wary about immediate elections. Most important, the main opposition party — the BJP — is in a mess of its own creation with no suitable leader in sight. The Congress alone has a leader in Sonia Gandhi, its track record of governance is tolerable and the economy is still on the upswing. So the party could well get some more seats if it goes to the polls with the plea that it was not allowed to complete is full term, goes the Congressman’s analysis.

The colleague heard him out but did not pursue with point that if the allies collapse at the hustings, who will partner the Congress in the next government?

A different take

The bureaucrats have their own take on the situation. A Secretary level officer told a journalist colleague that elections could well be held in January next and, hence, the rush to clear populists programmes. To buttress his point, the normally unheard of two back-to-back Cabinet meetings this week were cited where proposals such as raising the support price for wheat and rice were cleared along with the decision to continue subsidising diesel and kerosene for the next th ree years and monetary benefits for those likely to lose land to the SEZs. The bureaucrat, however, glossed over issues such as the difficulty in holding elections during winter in the hilly regions, the availability of police force to conduct elections all over the country within a limited time-frame and other such logistic issues that the Election Commission has to take into account.

Getting back its flavour

The Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, is quite happy that his move to re-open closed tea gardens is finally taking some shape. Notices have now been sent to owners of closed tea gardens in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala asking why the managements should not be changed as permitted under the law. Not the one to appropriate all the credit, Ramesh told a scribe that the Left may be opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, but it is supporting the “deal against the closed tea gardens”. The Left is in power in two of the three affected states and its support is necessary if the Minister has to make any headway.

OUR NEW DELHI BUREAU