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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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103089
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10308900.022
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1990-09-18
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WORLD, Page 71World NotesINDIANovember, Be Kind
What better month for an Indian politician to seek re-election
than November? The harvest and festival seasons have just ended,
leaving voters in an ebullient mood, and the weather is tolerable.
No wonder, then, that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi last week
scheduled national elections for Parliament's lower house late next
month, seven weeks earlier than necessary.
But Gandhi's decision also came after the opposition defeated
two government programs aimed at giving increased decision making
and funding to local governments. Gandhi evidently reasoned that
rejection of the popular measures provided him with a campaign
issue that will overshadow a financial scandal that has plagued his
government for two years. The election's outcome will probably
depend on whether the disorganized opposition fields a single slate
of candidates or disintegrates into splinter groups.