Saturday, September 12, 1998
PM unlikely to dismiss Rabri in wake of Bezbaruah row
Despite pressure from the Samata Party and the Bihar unit of the BJP and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's statement in Lucknow that a decision on the fate of the Rabri Devi government will be taken soon, the Centre is unlikely to act in haste. The loss of face suffered by the ruling coalition in the M K Bezbaruah transfer case is still too fresh in the Prime Minister's mind to compel him to take a decision that may invite flak.
Congress dons mantle of party-in-waiting
In a significant move, the Congress is mounting a diplomatic offensive as the party-in-waiting which is keen to work on India's relations with other countries even while in the Opposition. As part of this aggression on the foreign affairs front, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Sharad Pawar is slated to visit South Africa on September 14 and will carry a letter from Congress president Sonia Gandhi to South African President Nelson Mandela.
Pachmarhi is no incentive for alliance: Left
Despite all the talk of coalition politics and joining hands with the Congress, the two left parties have taken a sceptical view of the Congress party's just-concluded deliberations at Pachmarhi. The contention of both the CPM and the CPI is that, rhetoric apart, there is very little to indicate a deep analysis or introspection on the part of the Congress leadership of its political or economic policies which resulted in its debacle in the last two general elections and a sharp decline of its support base.
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