Avoid mid-term poll

The nation is not in a position to bear the burden of expense of a mid-term Lok Sabha poll two years before its schedule in 2014. Economy is in disarray. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh after being criticized by national and international media for policy inaction, he has mustered courage to again initiate economic reform measures firmly to boost economy. UPA’s most formidable ally TMC’s supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee has reacted very sharply in opposition to UPA Govt.’s decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi- brand retails and made announcement of withdrawal of support. In the given fluid political scenario, the Congress-led UPA must behave responsibly and sincerely and exhaust all options to avoid mid-term Lok Sabha polls in the situation arising out of Trinamool Congress decision to withdraw support from it. Trinamool Congress with 19 MPs has withdrawn support to the UPA government. Party leader Mamata Banerjee declared in Kolkata that she could not support the Centre’s “anti-people decisions” to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, raise the price of diesel, and cap the subsidy on cooking gas. With the declaration of decision to withdraw support and handover the resignation of all ministers from the TMC quota on Friday at 3 PM in protest against the UPA's recent economic decisions, the Congress-led UPA government of Dr. Manmohan Singh has slid into minority, though up till now it has the outside support of SP and BSP that can keep it going firmly. It is every likelihood that UPA-2 will run its full course anyhow but one thing is also certain that with its most vital ally TMC's decision to withdraw support if UP did not retract on all reform issues, it certainly has lost the confidence of the people a little bit. UPA can also not be dependent on SP and BSP as no party would like to be seen with the government sinking day by day. Though it was most urgent for the UPA government to act on economic policies and take reform measures that could be hard enough, it would also be imprudent on it to go back with its decisions of economic reform measure. It will be better for the Government politically and economically both to implement FDI in retails firmly, honestly and sincerely and ensure that its benefit must reach to the last poor man in our society. That is why economic reforms so far have not brought expected benefit and whatever benefit has come from them has centred in the hands of a few. The rich have become richer and the weak have become weaker. If the Congress-led UPA succeeds in doing away with pro rich impression about economic globalization and giving human face to its economic reforms, it will certainly weathered away all opposition in the remaining two years term of its government.