14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW DELHI, May 13: In the chequered political career of India's outgoing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the number 13 has brought mixed fortune.

Mr Vajpayee got his first shot at the premiership in 1996 when his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the largest party with 162 seats after parliamentary polls. But he had to resign after 13 days in office when his BJP could not find enough parties or political groups to help it bolster its strength to the required 272 for a majority in parliament.

In March 1998, Mr Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister for a second time but was in office for just 13 months before losing a vote of confidence in parliament by just one vote in April 1999.

In general polls in September/October 1999, Vajpayee managed to secure required numbers in India's 13th parliament constituted since independence in 1947 and was sworn into office on October 13.

On March 13, 2001, Vajpayee's government was rocked by a bribes-for-arms scandal, which implicated his defence minister George Fernandes, the chief of his BJP party Bangaru Laxman and senior defence and military officials.

Exposure of the scandal by the news website Tehelka - through a sting operation - led to the resignation of Fernandes, Laxman and several others. On December 13, 2001, Mr Vajpayee escaped an attack on parliament by allegedly by a group of Muslim rebels.

Mr Vajpayee was about to leave for the legislature when he received news of the attack. Several senior Indian leaders, including opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and Vajpayee's deputy Lal Krishna Advani, were in parliament when the attack took place which left 15 people dead, including the five rebels.

In February, Vajpayee dissolved parliament and called elections six months ahead of schedule, hoping to ride back to power on the back of a bountiful monsoon and a booming economy. His gamble failed and with his party routed he was forced to resign - on May 13. -AFP