None other than Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who also heads the UPA, herself appears to have by now reconciled to the inevitability of preparing for the snap poll. The Congress chief has been prevaricating for two years on former Chhattisgarh party leader V C Shukla’s plea to readmit him to the Congress fold.

Unexpected election
Dictated by the compulsions of readying the party for an unexpected election, Ms Gandhi has made up her mind. She granted audience to Shukla on Monday. A formal announcement on his readmission is expected to come about shortly. If the announcement is not immediately made, that is because Shukla is not the only one being considered for readmission to the party fold.

Prominent tribal leader from Chhattisgarh and former Union minister Arvind Netam, who quit the party to raise the BSP flag in the state three years back, has also been lined up for readmission. Mr Netam met the Congress chief on Tuesday.

Anxious to regain the ground it has lost to the BJP among the tribals in the tribal-dominated central Indian region – an area that covers parts of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh – the party leadership is also casting its net wider on priority basis.

On Tuesday, another prominent tribal leader and former party MP from Madhya Pradesh Dilip Singh Bhuria also met Sonia,  to clear his return to the Congress. Bhuria had left the party eight years ago and joined the BJP.

His case for return has also been cleared following the meeting with the party chief, said top Congress sources.

But the high command is lining up many more of its former leaders. Former Gujarat minister Mohammad Baloch met Congress chief on Wednesday and, according to the sources, the party is willing to take him back. Former MP and Gujarat tribal leader Somjibhai Damor too is scheduled to meet Sonia in a couple of days for re-induction. Damor had joined the Nationalist Congress Party some time back.

Welcome leaders
The sources said the high command was working to welcome many other leaders home in different states with a view to create a positive momentum in favour of the party, as part of the snap poll political exercise.

If these are the signals emanating from the Congress organisational front, the UPA government sought to stunt the Left’s strident attack on the alleged wheat import scam. A day after CPM politburo member Brinda Karat demanded a probe into the alleged import scam, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the government would go slow on wheat imports. Sensing the likelihood of a snap poll, Pawar’s NCP has scheduled its party’s executive meet later this month.