Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday predicted mid-term polls in the country any time after the presidential election.
As soon as the presidential election is over, inner contradictions in the United Front (UF) would surface and would lead to mid-term polls in the country, the former Prime Minister said here.
Moreover, the kind of statements which have come from both the United Front (UF) constituents and its supporting party, the Congress the life span of the I K Gujral government was likely to be curtailed sooner than later, he remarked.
Mid-term elections have become inevitable after the collapse of the H D Deve Gowda government because both the UF and the Congress, after their severe differences, have lost the peoples mandate.
They should have gone to the `peoples court to obtain a fresh mandate, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said and remarked even today, the kind of statements, which are being given by the leaders, only indicate that mid-term elections are unavoidable. The Communist Parties, Vajpayee said, had given a years time for the mid-term elections while the BJP predicted that it would be much sooner.
The Marxists are miffed at the setting up of a UF-Congress coordination committee. Once this mechanism comes into play, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will be marginalised and no longer be able to dictate terms to the UF, Vajpayee felt.
Moreover, the Congress will demand protection for some of its leaders who are either facing charges or are on the verge of being charged with criminal cases, he said and remarked there will be pressure on the Gujral government by the Congress to ensure that the law does not catch up with these politicians.
