Lok Sabha dissolved; election in end-Feb
George Iype in New Delhi
Ending three weeks of political uncertainty, President K R Narayanan dissolved the 11th Lok Sabha on Thursday.
With the dissolution of a House that saw the rise and fall of three governments in 19 months, India is now poised to witness hectic political activity, culminating in a mid-term poll within the next three months.
Political leaders halted on Thursday their week-long parleys to form another coalition government
and went indoors to plan for a general election that no party has been prepared for.
Ever since the Jain Commission report on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination triggered off a war of nerves between the
Congress and the United Front, the country witnessed power play among some of
India's shrewdest politicians.
But in the end, all the political maneuvering failed and no party won the battle for power. The Front led by
caretaker prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral did not give in to the predator, the Congress, and emerged as a
consolidated bloc.
The Congress led by its 83-year-old president Sitaram Kesri tried desperately to ward off a split in the party by
keeping detractors and supporters guessing about his gameplan for many days.
Congress sources told Rediff On The NeT that Kesri had told the President on Monday itself that the party's bid
for power was making no progress and that dissolution of the Lok Sabha appeared the only option.
But even after throwing up his hands in despair at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kesri continued to sanction frantic consultations
between the Congress and Front leaders so that the blame for dissolution of the House would not fall on him alone.
"Kesriji's main effort has been to ensure that Congress MPs do not split the party till the Lok Sabha is pronounced dead," an associate of the Congress chief revealed.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which tasted power for 13 days during the tenure of the 11th Lok Sabha, worked hard to ensure defections from the Congress, but failed.
Now that the political crisis has given way to an election, leaders have begun working overtime for a realignment of political forces.
Kesri is expected to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee to finalise an election strategy and shortlist the party's poll partners.
Though it is remarkable that the Front's constituents held together till the end, there is a distinct possibility that Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and G K Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress will cross over to a Congress-led front at the hustings.
UF spokesman and Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy claims no Front constituent will switch loyalties. "All our partners held together when the UF boat sank. Now nobody will run away because we have emerged much stronger and ready to fight," he told Rediff On The NeT.
Most observers credit Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Telugu
Desam Party chief and UF convener N Chandrababu Naidu with keeping the coalition intact. But they doubt if Naidu can continue to retain Moopanar and Mulayam Singh in the Front.
Both Moopanar and Mulayam Singh negotiated with the Congress this past week to form a new government in an effort to avert a mid-term election.
And a senior Congress leader said his party expects both Moopanar and Mulayam Singh to join hands with the Congress during the
election as "they have been dissatisfied with the UF leadership all these 19 months."
The BJP has not emerged unscathed from the political turmoil, as it has been stung by criticism that the party tried hard to woo a sizeable section of Congress MPs in a last-ditch effort to come to power.
A B Vajpayee and L K Advani have defended their party against the charge that it indulged in horse-trading. But the party's prospects will depend on its poll plank.
BJP sources claim the Ayodhya temple issue and Hindutva will not be the party's main electoral issue.
"Stability and national security will be our poll planks as both the Congress and UF governments have failed
in these crucial areas," a BJP MP said.
Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurty told reporters on Thursday that an election to the Lok Sabha will be held by the end of February or in early March.
He said the Commission plans to complete the exercise in a phased manner between end-February and mid-March so that the
next Lok Sabha can be constituted by March 15 to facilitate the presentation of the annual Budget.
The electoral rolls are now undergoing a summary revision to include voters who crossed the age of 18 with a
cut-off date of January 1, 1998. The rolls will be published on January 5.
The Commission, Krishnamurthy added, plans to issue the notification for the next general election on or after January 5.
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