NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh handed over his resignation and that of his Cabinet to President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday that sets in motion the process of forming a new government. Soon after their meeting, which lasted for around 35 minutes, the president issued orders to dissolve the 14th Lok Sabha with immediate effect.

Before meeting Patil, the outgoing Cabinet headed by Manmohan, whose coalition is just 10 seats short of a parliamentary majority, held a party leadership meeting recommending the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. The meeting was also attended by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader, Ram Vilas Paswan, whose Fourth Front showed a dismal performance in the elections.

Asserting his party’s decision to support the government, Lalu said: “We are giving unconditional support to the government and we have said this in the cabinet meeting as well.”

The Congress party was expected to appoint key reformers to the new Cabinet as financial markets soared yesterday on hopes its sweeping election win would herald a strong coalition government.

Congress’ strong showing means reformers will almost certainly be named to key ministerial portfolios, including finance and trade. The ministers should be named this week.

Fresh reformist faces may also join the Cabinet for the first time, including Rahul Gandhi. Among the names mentioned for the post of finance minister were Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Reformists held key posts in Manmohan’s outgoing coalition but were shackled by its Communist allies, who blocked measures like the sale of stakes in some state firms and raising the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector.

Manmohan’s coalition has now bagged 262 seats, just 10 seats short of a majority in the 543-member lower house, raising hopes that a strong government, unencumbered by difficult allies, would push reforms to boost growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.

While no single party has won an outright majority in India in a quarter-century, Manmohan is expected to become the first prime minister to return for a second term since Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984.

Congress is expected to seek the support of small parties or independents to create a house majority. The rival bloc led by the Hindu-extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 159 seats, much less than it expected.

Congress leaders will meet today to officially endorse Manmohan as prime minister, after which the party will meet its coalition partners to decide on potential new allies.

The pre-poll partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are to meet tomorrow to discuss the future course of action, the Congress said yesterday. “On May 20, there will be a meeting of UPA where all our pre-poll alliance partners are invited. That day we will sit together and discuss our future steps,” Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here.

The meeting will take place at 10, Janpath, which is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence.