15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW DELHI, May 14: An alliance between the Congress party and the communists will be able to form the next Indian government even without securing new partners, according to election results as of Friday.

The Congress on its own won 145 of the 539 seats declared, improving its tally from 112 in the last parliament elected five years ago.

With the support of smaller parties which allied with Congress entering the election, the Congress-led coalition is placed at 216 seats. But with the Communist Party of India-Marxist - which nearly doubled its parliamentary seats to 62 and has expressed support for a Congress-led government - the coalition would have 278 seats, six more than needed for a majority.

The Hindu nationalist coalition of outgoing prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee won 186 seats.

Congress is expected to negotiate with powerful regional parties to secure a bigger working margin. -AFP