Post DMK pullout, Rahul Gandhi preparing for snap polls

21 March, 2013

While the Congress high command continues to put a brave face after DMK's withdrawal of support to the UPA Government and is making hectic efforts to ensure continuation of the government till the end of its term, the party Vice President Rahul Gandhi seems to be making preparations for snap polls.

Though, it may not be difficult for the party to get hold of supporters like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati or to attract new allies like Nitish Kumar, young Congress leaders, it is believed, are of the view that it is better to go for polls, instead of making efforts to get hold of unpredictable allies.

The incidents of last four to five days indicate that the party’s crisis management group has been caught in an impatient attitude. The way in which senior leaders dealt with trusted ally like DMK Chief M Karunanidhi presents sad affairs of the party.

After the Congress high command get ready to fulfill all demands of Karunanidhi with regard to Lankan Tamils, the DMK chief shot back stating that as he failed to get any assurance from the party leadership, he was in a hurry in withdrawing support to the government. This has revealed that three top leaders - A K Antony, P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who were dispatched to Chennai as `trouble shooters’ failed to give any confidence that government will consider his demands.

At the same time, union minister Beni Prasad Varma created another problem to the party by insulting another key ally Mulayam Singh Yadav, by describing him as ‘anti national’ on the floor of the Lok Sabha. No one dares to use such derogatory language against political opponents on the floor of Parliament. This forced party supremo Sonia Gandhi to go to Mulayam Singh Yadav personally in the Parliament house with folding hands to pacify him.

When the Congress high-command was pre-occupied with these troubles, it was caught unnoticed with the CBI raids on the residence of Karunanidhi’s son M K Stalin in Chennai. This forced the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and AICC President Sonia Gandhi to condemn the raid personally. Finance Minister P Chidambaram went to the extent of stating that it was most “inappropriate” act.

Rahul Gandhi, who seems to be serious to reform the party structure, might be worried over these developments. Though the principal opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not ready for snap polls and has openly announced that it doesn’t want to move no-confidence motion against the government, it was Rahul Gandhi, who asked the party MPs to get ready for polls at any time.

According to sources inside the Congress, Rahul Gandhi is of the view that the present situation is very comfortable for the Congress party to go to polls. Expecting big gains in Karnataka, junior Gandhi feels this would beat morale of the BJP leadership and will help the Congress to register substantial gains in the BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Sources, however, fear that if the party waits for polls till 2014, the results of assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, where congress is likely to be defeated and BJP-rules states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh, where BJP is confident to return to power, will demoralise Congress campaign.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh is unable to announce his executive committee, even after one month of his election and is yet to prepare the party machinery to face Lok Sabha polls. Holding elections, at least six months in advance of the scheduled time, is likely to benefit Congress. It will also create problems for Narendra Modi to get acceptance for his prime ministerial ambitions within the party.