YSR breathes easy, Reds disappointed

Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is perhaps the happiest man among all politicians in the State, since Madam Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manomohan Singh officially announced that there would be no mid-term elections to Lok Sabha and that they were prepared to push the Nuclear deal into the cold storage for the sake of "coalition dharma."

For, he can defer implementation of all his pre-poll sops like Rs 2 a kg rice scheme, announced to woo the voters for the time being. YSR was wondering as to how to implement these schemes since there was no positive response from the Centre on funding them. At the same time, he had the responsibility of ensuring victory for the Congress in the mid-term elections, if they are held. Now that there are no mid-term polls in the near future, YSR can postpone implementation of his promises at a later date and make a fresh announcement just a few months before the next elections to be held as per schedule.

The biggest disappointment is for the Left parties. They thought it would be advantageous for them if the mid-term elections are held. The national leadership of the CPI-M instructed their local leaders to have a tie-up with the Telugu Desam in the mid-term elections and that would have been definitely a serious problem for the Congress. Now, all their hopes are shattered. YSR has heaved a sigh of relief!!