The UPA Government has completed 40 months and already clouds of mid-term polls are looming large. In fact, the Government that runs with the help of outside support shortens its life span.

Remember how Charan Singh, who defected from the Government in late 70s on the firm assurance of the Congress for their outside support, was betrayed? Same thing happened to Chandra Shekhar who split his own party at the fag end of 1990s, again with support of the Congress. The reason advanced for the withdrawal of support was espionage by two Haryana constables near Rajiv Gandhi's residence. IK Gujral formed the Government in the mid-nineties but could not last. The Congress again withdrew its support. Coalition experiment of the NDA was different. It, too, had outside support of the TDP. But the Vajpayee Government was clever to sense trouble from the TDP and managed to get the support from the BSP. The TDP had wanted the removal of Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu looked adamant.

The UPA came to power in May 2004 with outside support of the Left. The ominous symptoms were loud enough. Firstly, for the first time, the communist parties came to the position of dictating terms. Recall their bragging when they said that UPA Government has to sit down when they will tell it to sit down. This created suspicion in the minds of senior politicians thinking that Government can't last full term. Then we heard the chorus from CPM and CPI leaders for months together that the UPA Government would run for the full term. Congress and the Left have nothing in common except the objective of keeping the BJP away from power.

It is worthwhile to remember that CPM was born out of two China approach in mid-60s. Even in the new situation, when the Chinese changed their-path, CPM's loyalty continued with China. Left kept putting spokes in the wheel of the UPA Government. There is a battle between the UPA and the Left. When the question of Indo-US, nuclear deal 123 Agreement arose, the Left began warning the Government mildly. But slowly these warnings threatened the very existence of the UPA Government.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed a message saying that if the Left wanted to withdraw support they may do so. This defiance angered CPM leaders. Within a week the country witnessed political instability at the Centre. People don't want instability for various reasons. Today no party is prepared for the election. Yet every party has given directives to their organisation asking them to prepare for it.

All anti-BJP parties may have a consolation that the BJP too is not in the pink of health at present. But I can tell them that this impression has now become old as great efforts have been put in for more than one year and these have yielded results. Even the question of prime ministerial candidate has been solved to the satisfaction of all except a few. All the burning issues on which the Government is found at receiving end put BJP on the top. For central elections, the BJP is an agenda rich party. Horrendous price rise, increasing terrorism, Muslim appeasement and all-round corruption are some of the issues, which has put Government in the dock. To cap it all, Manmohan Singh Government in an affidavit filed in Supreme Court has de-throned Lord Rama of his historic existence. Lord Rama is a matter of faith.

The world knows and respects that all oral histories are part of human memory containing seeds of basic truth. With the passage of time, however, some changes take place in the main story but core truth remains untouched. Ram's history and places of importance associated with him are spread over in many parts of the country from Rameshwaram to Ayodhya. So much panic was there in the whole of Congress circles that it made a u-turn on the affidavit earlier filed by its own Government. But this u-turn is only a pretentious.

We have seen the naked truth; the inner core of the Congress thinking. Although the Congress has been on the election mode from day one of the UPA Government, it wanted to enjoy electoral safety through en bloc Muslim vote-bank. It conceded pre-partition demands of Muslim League by accepting Sachar Commission report; identified districts with considerable Muslim population, spilled huge funds at their disposal.

To cap it all Manmohan Singh declared that Muslims have the first right on the Government treasury. Mid-term poll is unavoidable and the Left would not like to go to the poll, burdened with many failures of the Government.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, September 16, 2007