Likely to keep the option of delaying polls beyond April open.
After soaring inflation and fuel prices, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s main problem now is the domestic impact of global financial crisis. While the Centre has unleashed a series of measures to minimise the adverse impact of the global slowdown, it has been forced to revise its political strategy as well.
To give itself more space for political manoeuvre, the government is likely to adjourn the current Parliament session on October 24 after passing the two demand for grants (the General Budget and the Railway Budget). As it has little hope to get the important pending Bills passed during the next few days, it is contemplating calling another session from December 8 after the state elections are over.
Congress managers are yet to decide if the next session will be an extension of the current session or a fresh one. If the party decides to extend this session in December, it won’t need to face a no-confidence motion from the opposition.
The December session will allow the UPA more elbow space not only for passing urgent legislation but also for calling the next general elections.
The Constitution requires that the gap between two Parliament sessions should not exceed six months. Another session in December will allow the government to keep the window open for elections in April and beyond.
A large section of the party still feels February 2009 will be a suitable time. However, the allies, especially Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK’s M Karunanidhi and Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janashakti Party, want to stay in power for some more time and face elections around April 2009.
While the government had been working on its strategy of keeping an eye on inflation and soaring oil prices, the latest global situation has shifted its focus. A top Congress leader told Business Standard, “Our comfort factor is that oil prices have reduced and inflation is coming down, but the bigger fear is economic slowdown and possible job losses.”
“If foreign clients cancel orders, the economy will be hurt and there will be job cuts. Job cuts and economic slowdown will affect many areas and that’s not going to be a happy situation for voters,” said a Congress general secretary.
Some Congress managers had earlier advocated clubbing of Lok Sabha polls elections in five states in November and December. However, party chief Sonia Gandhi shot down the proposal citing inflation woes. Now, even as her government has successfully managed to control inflation blues, new and bigger worries loom large over the party’s electoral strategies.
