Venkaiah Naidu predicts mid-term elections

Anantapur: Bharatiya Janata Party national leader M Venkaiah Naidu predicted that there was a possibility that the Lok Sabha polls would be held in October this year. Speaking to the media here on Wednesday after participating in the Praja Chaitanya meeting, he said that the UPA government was on the ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit and it would not survive long. He said that the allies of UPA were pulling it in different directions creating instability. Venkaiah Naidu said that he got authentic information from reliable sources at the Centre that the elections to the Lok Sabha would be held immediately after the State assembly elections in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, New Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Venkaiah Naidu also lashed out at those who were pleading for pardon for Sanjay Dutt. He said that there cannot be one set of laws for film stars and political leaders and another law for the common man.A He reminded the people that a 70-year-old woman was also sentenced to imprisonment in the same case. Venkaiah Naidu criticised the statement of the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who said that the age of consent for sex was 16 in the Indian Penal Code of 1860. Naidu said that in India, a person could marry after attaining the age of 18 years. So it was ridiculous to have sex at the age of 16 before marriage and was highly irresponsible on the part of Shinde to make such a statement in Parliament, he said. Naidu said that the Union Home Minister should respect the traditions, customs and laws of the country. Commenting on the stand taken by the Tamil Nadu Government on the Sri Lankan cricketers' issue, the BJP leader said that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha might have feared that problems would arise in the State if they were allowed to play as the issue of Tamils in Sri Lanka was highly emotional.A He came down heavily on the DMK for remaining silent when firing was opened on several innocent Tamilians in Sri Lanka and for making a big issue over the IPL matches in Chennai.