Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday sought to negate speculations about a possibility of an early general election. However, at the same time, she sent a signal that her party was gearing up for polls as she asked party members to ensure that the credit for the populist budget went only to their party and not the allies.
“Inevitably, we have to start preparing for the Lok Sabha polls next year. We have a little over a year left of this Parliament,” she told the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP).

At the same time, she emphasised, “Many political parties are naturally trying to take credit for what our government has achieved in this budget. The plain and simple truth is that it is our party and our government alone that has taken these bold measures,” she said. 

Asking party men to also prepare for the spate of Assembly elections later this year, she said, “We will go into these polls with an outstanding record of achievements, both in terms of government programmes and of legislation enacted. These achievements should earn for us the trust and mandate of the people once again.”

Lessons from NE

Describing as “very disappointing, to say the least” the party’s performance in Tripura and Nagaland, she said the party should learn the “simple lesson” that “we need harder work and meticulous preparation, more careful selection of candidates and strategies, greater unity and discipline”. 

Claiming that the Budget measures had nothing to do with elections, she said party workers should access district-wise database available with district administration to help out farmers who were entitled to be loan waiver beneficiaries.

She congratulated Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram for giving a budget that “reflects the interest and needs of all sections of our population”.