Anti-incumbency may affect UPA in parliamentary polls: Congress MP

The anti-incumbency factor could affect the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, a Congress MP and former Goa chief minister Francisco Sardinha said Wednesday.

The South Goa MP is a key minority face in the party and is the chairman of the estimates committee of the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to reporters at the state Congress headquarters, Sardinha said: "The anti-incumbency factor is always there. It affects everybody." He was responding to a question whether after nine years at the helm, the UPA could be decreasing in popularity as claimed by media surveys.

Sardinha also said that surveys which were conducted ahead of polls were not always right.

He said the party would spend the one year ahead of the 2014 polls on improving its party's image, which has taken a beating with allegations of scams and scandals levelled by the opposition.

"All parties know that during the last one year (before elections) you have to improve the party's image," Sardinha said.

He also justified the removal of two central ministers who were accused of wrongdoing but found nothing wrong in the lack of action against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert vadra, who was linked to a real estate scam.

"If some individuals commit a blunder, the head has to act. If someone, his family members or someone from his office did wrong he was sacked by the party," Sardinha said, referring to the removal of Ashwani Kumar (law) and P.K. Bansal (railways).

When asked about the inability of the Congress leadership to act against Vadra or even probe the allegations against him, Sardinha said: "There was nothing in it. The issue came and died. Anyone can make allegations to malign names. Why should there be action?"