New Delhi, May 13: A day after she said she had information that a political party had held a meeting to advance general elections to 2013, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would be happy to see the United Progressive Alliance — of which her party is a part — last its full term.
Her statement about the possibility of early elections came at a party meeting here on Friday, when she advised her colleagues to be ready for elections at any time as she had heard that polls could be advanced.
While Ms. Banerjee is well-known for her whimsicality, it is not a secret that she herself is keen that general elections be held as soon as possible to derive the maximum advantage of her party's performance in last year's Assembly elections when the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine swept the polls, ousting the Left Front from power.
Her fear is that if general elections are held on time in 2014, she may not make the gains she might make if they are held sooner. This is especially as West Bengal is in dire economic straits and the Centre has made it clear that there will be no bailout package until the State itself pulls up its socks and takes some tough measures — something Ms. Banerjee is not prepared to do.
Simultaneously, for while her personal popularity may be intact in rural Bengal, and the Left Front is a long away from rebuilding its party machine, Ms Banerjee is rapidly losing support in the urban areas of the State, especially Kolkata. Apart from that, she is not sure of the loyalty of many of her MPs: the first one to challenge her was the former Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi, whom she unceremoniously sacked for announcing a hike in rail passenger fares in his budget, and then refusing to roll them back. It would help to keep her MPs on their toes, by scaring them into believing that elections are round the corner, party sources say, especially as they remain dependent on her not just to get the party nomination but to get elected.
Meanwhile, the Congress officially responded to the Trinamool leader's statement.
“I have not gone through Ms. Banerjee's statement but one thing is clear: UPA-II will complete its term and elections will be held on schedule [in 2014],” party spokesman Rashid Alvi said adding, “There is no question of any mid-term poll. The Manmohan Singh-led government will complete its full term. I can specifically say the [next Lok Sabha] election will be held as per schedule … if any political group talks to its workers about mid-term [election], it is their internal matter.”
Within the Congress, the majority view remains that UPA-II should last its full term, so that it has another two years to set its house in order. Only occasionally, a few of the younger MPs have been heard saying that as this is a lame duck government, it would be better to advance the polls. But given that the core of the party is cautious, it looks unlikely that the Congress would willingly advance the polls: it would rather wait it out.
Comments
Add new comment