NEW DELHI, 10 September 2007 — Amid talk of midterm polls, the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appear to have gone into election mode and have launched hectic efforts to get their acts together.
The Congress-led coalition is not lagging behind in the wake of calls to be prepared for snap elections. It is showing signs of urgency in taking action in the wake of the standoff with the left parties on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The announcement of follow-up action on the Sachar Committee’s report on Muslims, an ambitious scheme of scholarships for schedule caste students, the bill for unorganized sector workers and an insurance scheme for the masses are the latest decisions to project its “common-man” image. “The fourth year of a coalition is invariably a tricky year” — that is the refrain among Congress leaders, including AICC office-bearers, thereby implying that they do not rule out the possibility of early polls. The BJP too is attempting to put its house in order and a meeting of its top brass with the RSS, currently on in Mumbai, is being seen as a crucial move in this direction.
The main opposition party will later this month hold its national executive meet in Bhopal, which is likely to be an important affair as it strategizes on the “next steps.”
On the other hand, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has become active on the organizational front with indications from the AICC that changes are on the cards in several states and at the national level.
