Polls apart with Left on deal, Sonia tells party: get election machinery humming by Aug 31

“The meeting discussed poll preparations for states going to elections in the near future. In addition, there was a general discussion on preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections. A schedule has been given to organize the party at all levels, which will be executed in a time-bound manner,” said AICC spokesperson Veerappa Moily after the meeting. On the agenda: filling up organizational posts, preparing lists of probable candidates, devising campaign strategies and starting awareness campaigns on the UPA’s flagship social-sector schemes and the loan waiver.

During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have apprised members of his “talent search” initiative across states and the status of preparedness in the organizations under him, the NSUI and the Youth Congress. Today’s meeting was part of the broader exercise of consultation by Sonia Gandhi that includes her party’s Chief Ministers and state coordination committees.

The Congress’s election call amid growing indications of the Samajwadi Party warming up to the Congress and holding out hope for both the deal and delayed elections. Sticking to his party line that no decision will be taken before the UNPA meets on July 3, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today told CNN-IBN, “The old chapter is closed now,” adding that there are neither permanent friends nor foes in politics.

Whether and how Mulayam bails out the Congress in case the Left withdraws support are still open questions but his remark assumes significance coming as it does a day after L K Advani wished the Mayawati government “all success” at a rally in Kanpur. SP leaders have, of late, been referring to BSP as the BJP’s B-team.

Parallel to this political process, the UPA reaffirmed its commitment to the nuclear deal. At Dera Baba Nanak near the border in Punjab, visiting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee dismissed CPM general secretary Prakash Karat’s claim yesterday — in a piece in People’s Democracy — that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was responsible for the present political crisis. Mukherjee said that the PM was working to “safeguard the national interest” and this demanded a go-ahead to the nuclear deal.

Mukherjee, who was at the Dera Baba Nanak in connection with a proposed “religious corridor” or passage for pilgrims to visit the gurdwara at Kartarpur inside Pakistan, said there was no threat to the UPA government. “There are some problems and we are talking to UPA partners and the Left to find a way out,” he said, adding: “A solution will be reached shortly.”

Echoing the PM, he linked the deal to the country’s growing energy needs. “We need to sustain economic growth. Energy is the most important ingredient for economic upsurge. And as electricity supply is short, oil prices are rising and coal, though available in abundance, is not environmentally feasible, tapping nuclear energy is the only answer,” he said.

On the possibility of a Congress-SP alliance, he said the government would wait for the UNPA meeting on July 3 and “all options were open to find political allies.”