NEW DELHI, 17 May 2004 — Congress leader Sonia Gandhi will meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today to stake her party’s claim to form the new government, party sources said yesterday. Her government is expected to assume office this week, after being sworn in on Wednesday.
She was unanimously elected leader of the Congress-led coalition at a meeting of the allies held at her residence yesterday evening. Her name was proposed by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and seconded by RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and others. Making the announcement after the meeting, senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh said: “Sonia Gandhi has been unanimously elected the leader of the coalition, that is, the new prime minister.”
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and RLD leader Ajit Singh also attended the meeting. Their attending the meeting was symbolic of their having dropped their earlier reservations against Sonia Gandhi heading the new government. Also, it displayed their inclination to be included in the government.
This takes Sonia yet another step closer toward heading the new government.
Meanwhile, economists dismissed fears that India’s economic liberalization might be stalled by the incoming government, though Indian markets plunged over six percent Friday on investor worries that privatization and deficit cuts would be put on the backburner.
“Economic reforms are irreversible. Nobody can stop reforms in a country that is one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” said Y.M. Deosthalee, chief financial officer at engineering giant Larsen and Toubro.
Congress leaders also promised continuity in foreign policy, with Natwar Singh, who is tipped by some to be the new foreign minister, saying New Delhi would continue the peace process with Pakistan but would likely distance itself from Washington.
He warned that while the new coalition would maintain friendly relations with Washington, it would not be as close as the outgoing administration and had sharp differences over some of its policies, especially with regard to Iraq. “We are the world’s largest democracy and they are the world’s most powerful democracy, so we are natural allies,” Singh told Sab TV.
But he added that Washington would have to accept that India also disagreed on some issues. “We don’t agree with their policy on Iraq,” Singh said, adding that had Congress been in government, it would have officially criticized the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
During the nearly 45 years of previous Congress rule, India, which led the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, had tilted toward the Soviet Union.
On warming, but shaky ties with neighboring Pakistan, Singh said the new government was “willing to discuss everything from the nuclear issue to Kashmir.”
For the leftists, the issue yesterday was not so much economic reform or foreign policy but whether to become part of government and face possible backlash from supporters, or to support Sonia from the outside.
“Discussions are still going on,” said A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India (CPI) after leaders of his party held a meeting in New Delhi.
But he said the CPI had given a letter pledging support to a Congress-led government to President Kalam.
Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Jyoti Basu said his party, too, was locked in debate on the issue.
The Communist bloc calls the election verdict an indictment of the market-friendly economic policies of the previous government. Basu and his party colleague Harkishen Singh Surjeet are reported to view joining the government as a historic opportunity to wield influence.
But others say the bloc could wield greater influence by being the crucial support for a Congress-led government without taking part in the messy business of government.
