PM calls NDA meet on polls

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has convened a meeting of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today to pave the way for a formal declaration of the government's intention of holding early Lok Sabha elections.

The NDA meeting is being seen as a mere formality of getting a stamp of approval of the 23-party coalition for advancing the polls. Once the NDA approves the early poll decision, the two-day Bhar-atiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive, to be held in Hyderabad on January 11 will pass a political resolution endorsing the NDA decision.

The meeting, to be held at the Prime Minister's residence in the evening, will also approve the government's plan to seek a vote-on-account by convening a special session of Parliament.

The meeting is aimed at sending across the message that NDA partners are standing solidly behind Vajpayee in sharp contrast to disunity and disarray in the Congress-led Opposition.

The meeting will also formalise the broader contours of the coalition, which may undergo some changes in view of the possibility of induction of new allies like Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

NDA convener George Fernandes is in touch with prospective allies like Ram Vilas Paswan to expand the NDA's base.

That the government is in the election mode became more evident when the Cabinet today passed a formal resolution felicitating Vajpayee for his Islamabad tour and achievements at the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) summit.

The Cabinet also cleared a populist pilot project of the labour ministry to cover workers of the unorganised sector under the provident fund scheme.

Though the labour ministry had mooted the idea of making a law to cover the unorganised sector workers, the Cabinet developed a cold feet at the last stage because it would have entailed a heavy financial burden. According to BJP sources, the pilot project, which will cover about 1 million workers will further boost the prevailing feel-good factor.

"This is a great work we have done," said Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Varma. He asked officials to evolve the mechanism to implement the scheme at the earliest.

What appears to have necessitated the Prime Minister to convene an NDA meeting was the grumbling by few partners over the unilateral political decisions by the BJP on polls.

However, said a BJP leader, senior party leaders including Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu had already held informal consultations with various allies including the Telugu Desam Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal (United).

Sources in the government said the NDA meeting would also be a stock-taking exercise by the Prime Minister to ascertain the regional political scenario, particularly in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK and the MDMK had left the coalition and were set to forge a coalition with the Congress.

Given Vajpayee's turbulent experience with Jaylalithaa, there is scpeticism even within the BJP about the sustainability of an alliance with the AIADMK.

Similarly, the BJP's attempts to co-opt small regional outfits in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand will have an impact on the NDA's shape . According to sources, the BJP's eagerness to induct Kalyan Singh and forge a coalition with the Apna Dal, reflects its desperation to expand its social base before polls.

In Jharkhand, the BJP is keen to formalise a pact with tribal outfits to neutralise the Congress. But all these emerging equations would alter the existing arrangements with allies, admitted sources in the government.