NEW DELHI, August 24: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-month old government was headed for a make-or-break political season on Tuesday after the country's Election Commission announced fresh assembly elections in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh , along with more than 40 by-polls spread across 14 states.

Apart from Maharashtra, which remains the most crucial test in the fray for Dr Singh's Congress Party, other states in the contest are expected to also settle the issue of Ms Sonia Gandhi's hold on the nation's politics.

These by-polls would be held in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Assam among other regions. Elections will be held to all the seats on October 13 except Arunchal Pradesh, which goes to polls on October 7.

Dr Singh's Communist-backed United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has not had a day's respite, since it took power in May, from a relentless opposition assault led by the rightwing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has targeted the government for its alleged appeasement of Muslims.

The stand off came to a head on Monday after the chief minister of the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh state stepped down to face criminal charges slapped on her in the Congress- ruled state of Karnataka. The BJP is seeking to play up the resignation of its hardline Hindutva mascot Uma Bharti as an act of sacrifice forced by the politically motivated Congress.

The BJP is fighting the elections in Maharashtra with its off-and-on Hindu ally, the Shiv Sena party. Both are pitted against a Congress-led coalition of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's breakaway group comprising former Congress workers.

Elections are also going to be due early next year in Jharkhand, ruled by the BJP. Dr Singh has been pleading with the BJP to allow the parliament to function but has not been successful so far.

On Tuesday the Lok Sabha adjourned without work for the second day this week fuelling possibilities of a premature end to the session amid the unending political row.

With routine disruptions and adjournments casting a shadow on parliament as well as his government, Dr Singh regretted that the daily turmoil in parliament was affecting his normal work schedule.

"The first hundred days of the government have been characterized by daily turmoil witnessed in parliament. I had to deal with a number of these abnormal situations that cut me off from people in all walks of life, interactions with whom I greatly cherish," he told industrialists at a gathering here.

Politicians and analysts believe that the government could face a truly serious threat if the Congress loses Maharashtra, one of India's most prosperous and politically sensitive states.