14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW DELHI, May 13: India turned sharply to the left on Thursday, rejecting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's pro-rich economic policies while giving an unexpected chance to the main opposition Congress Party to form the new government , but with conditional communist support.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was widely tipped to be the new prime minister, and she was promptly promised the support of India's two influential communist groups. The dilemma for her was essentially internal as a strong pro-market lobby within the Congress canvassed against reliance on the Left Front. But the idea would leave her short of a majority.

There was also the challenge to her leadership from pre-poll allies, including the breakaway Congressman and Maharashtrian leader Sharad Pawar, who had formed the National Congress Party, chiefly to target Ms Gandhi's Italian origins.

But the emphatic verdict appeared to have left little choice for Mr Pawar or others who believed she was not fit to rule India. The results of the four-stage mammoth polls gave the Congress-led coalition 215 seats against the BJP-coalition's 187 in the 543-strong Lok Sabha.

The "others", including an unprecedented 62-strong Left Front, has 137 MPs. BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan, described the verdict as stunning and totally unexpected.

Thursday's verdict is actually stunning. It gave the Congress several unbelievable seats in Gujarat, dismissed as a bastion of right-wing Hindu revivalists.

Elsewhere, the voters also returned the largest communist-led contingent of leftist parties in 50 years. But the verdict was notable for its rejection of the pro-rich policies of Mr Vajpayee.

The most emphatic of this rejection was witnessed in Andhra Pradesh where the Congress swept away what was seen as a World Bank-supported administration of Telegu Desam party, with promises of free electricity to poor farmers. Similarly, in neighbouring Karnataka, the Congress was swept out of power by a combination of pro-farmers Janata Dal and Mr Vajpayee's BJP.

The Gujarat verdict was being seen as a rejection of Hindutva itself. It was impractical for the poorer lot such as the Dalits, the tribes-people and the small farmers who could not pursue it with any zeal in the absence of any economic benefits.

With the help available from its friends, the Congress has clearly got the numbers to form a government and the numbers are probably high enough to smooth over possible irritants like the question of who will be the prime minister.

For now, the Congress seems to be firmly backing its leader as the next Prime Minister of India. For party workers 10 Janpath, Ms Gandhi's residence, was the address to converge with dholaks and firecrackers. She came out to meet them though she refused to comment on her thoughts about the top job.

But throughout the day her media managers left no doubt that the country's top job was hers for the asking. "A formal announcement hasn't been made yet but everything points to her becoming the Prime Minister.

"She has to talk to her colleagues and a decision will be taken soon," said senior party leader and former junior foreign minister Salman Khursheed. Even her son, Rahul Gandhi, endorsed his mother's leadership and said the alliance's victory was the result of her hard work.

"Today's verdict is because of the work my mother has done. She is the strength of the Congress and the reason behind the nation's verdict," he said in Amethi where he won his first contest in parliamentary politics.

Ms Gandhi told a news conference in New Delhi that the Congress members of parliament would elect their parliamentary leader on Saturday. "I thank the voters for their support. Over the next few days the process of government formation will gather to present a strong, stable and secular government at the earliest," she said.

Among Thursday's major gainers was the Samajwadi Party which rules Uttar Pradesh with the support of the Congress. The party had tripped Ms Gandhi in 1999 when she approached it for help to form a government.

Some top Congress leaders don't want the Samajwadi Party's support now that along with the Left Front, the Congress is in a position to provide a stable government. The Samajwadi Party, literally meaning "socialist party", is considered close to the Reliance Industries, the industrial behemoth whose vice chairman Anil Ambani called on Ms Gandhi on Wednesday.

A tussle could now take place between the Left Front support to the Congress and Ms Gandhi's need to widen her base by involving the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh to join her.

"We've already said that Mulayam Singh Yadav will always be welcome and it's heartening that both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh have said that they will not go with Mr Vajpayee's coalition," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Having won many more seats than expected, the Congress is now poised to take off. And having learnt to its benefit the advantage of fixing up pre-poll allies, it will now have to negotiate the tricky road of coalition politics.

Lok Sabha results



(539 of 543 seats)



Congress & allies       215



BJP & allies            187



others                  137



Last Lok Sabha



NDA      298;  



Congress 135; 



others   131