Will Modi go for early LS Polls; Mamata after Nitish says prospect real

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, August 28: Ahead of the Mumbai meeting of the Opposition alliance, I.N.D.I.A., West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has added her voice to the raging speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may call for an early Lok Sabha elections. It may be recalled that a few weeks ago Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also had claimed that there was a likelihood of an early Lok Sabha elections in the country.

Banerjee and her Bihar counterpart now appear to be concurring in speculating that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre may rush for Lok Sabha elections in December. “All choppers are booked by the BJP for campaigning for the month of December this year,” said Banerjee, while addressing the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress.

Modi, however, is not known to prepone elections. Also, the Assembly elections are due for five states in November this year. The BJP gambit to hold Lok Sabha elections early may be to neutralize the anti-incumbency factor in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. But Modi may not decide on timing of the general elections only for the sake of Madhya Pradesh.

It may be recalled that the Bihar chief minister had not shed enough light on his sources for making claims that he has been told that Modi may hold Lok Sabha elections by end of the year. The Lok Sabha elections in normal calendar would be held in March-April in multiple phases. Generally, the general elections spill over to two months.

It may also be noted that the incumbent government goes into the Lok Sabha elections with votes on account in the month of January on which the ruling dispensation also seeks to utilise the opportunity to send out messages to the target electorate. By holding Lok Sabha elections in December, Modi may be depriving his government an opportunity to use the vote on account opportunity in January.

Additional factor that may weigh in favour of holding early Lok Sabha elections could be the alibi that the Opposition alliance be not given a long rope to group and regroup against the BJP. But this argument may also appear weak for the fact that the country has already been in the election mode, which was evident from the Opposition action in the just concluded Monsoon session of parliament.