The viability of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government hung in the balance yesterday after inconclusive exit polls in India's crucial third round of balloting indicated that his coalition could lose its majority in parliament.
The polls showed the opposition Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of slain prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was likely to rebound from its devastating defeat in the 1999 elections.
An exit poll by New Delhi Television, a private news channel, predicted a hung parliament with Vajpayee's governing alliance winning 235 to 255 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark and down from the 303 seats it won in the last election.
It predicted Congress and its allies would win 190 to 210 seats, up from 113 seats in the last election.
Smaller groups and independents were likely to get the remaining 100 to 120 seats, the exit poll predicted.
The Lok Sabha, the powerful lower house of India's parliament, has 543 elected seats and two nominations.
Another private TV news channel, Aaj Tak, predicted 266 seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies.
The Congress, it said, would bag 175 seats while independent candidates would get 102.
Star News, also privately owned, gave Vajpayee's governing alliance 267 to 279 seats and the Congress and its allies 160 to 172 seats.
Vajpayee dismissed the exit polls.
"We are confident that people will vote for us so that we could give concrete shape to our dream of making India a great nation," Vajpayee told an election rally in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan is a massive desert state which votes in the next round on May 5.
Newspapers pointed out that the first two rounds of voting largely covered areas where Vajpayee's coalition -- known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- was not expected to do well.
"Monday's voting covered a lot of territory where the BJP-NDA was under pressure," said the Asian Age daily.
"In the remaining rounds of voting its performance can only improve," it said.
Another daily observed that the Congress party's gains in the third round would not alter the NDA's fortunes, which it suggested could enlist minor parties to bolster its coalition if it fails to win a majority.
"Even if the Congress surges has raised some questions about NDA getting a clear majority, the ruling coalition remains the firm favorite to form the next government," said the Times of India.
At least six were killed on Monday in election-related violence, bringing the death toll to 33 since balloting began on April 20, said Deputy Election Commissioner A.N. Jha.
He said 55 percent to 60 percent of the 175 million registered voters participated in Monday's poll.
Many voters in disputed Kashmir stayed home after Islamic guerrillas called for a poll boycott and threatened violence.
In Monday's vote, one of Vajpayee's chief allies was also in trouble in Andhra Pradesh state. N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party faced the strong possibility of losing power in state assembly elections.
Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, who was standing for a parliament seat for the first time, were running for office from the Hindu heartland of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, which has produced eight of its 12 prime ministers.
If Vajpayee wins, Sonia Gandhi will be hoping to at least cement her position within Congress. Rahul is the latest member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to enter Indian politics.
RSS