India Elects Foreign born Female Prime Minister!

[Icehawk]

NEWS

India's gov't defeated after elections
Sonia Gandhi possible new prime minister

Beth Duff-Brown
Canadian Press

May 13, 2004

NEW DELHI -- The ruling Hindu nationalist party conceded defeat Thursday, opening the way for Sonia Gandhi to become India's first foreign-born leader and restore her family's dynasty to power in a dramatic election upset in the world's largest democracy.

Results indicated that millions of rural poor people abandoned Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, believing they had been left out of his economic boom and rejecting his Hindus-first message in favour of the secularism of Gandhi's Congress party.

Vajpayee, who resigned Thursday, had campaigned on the slogan "India Shining," which focused on the country's eight per cent growth rate, increased development and a surge in high-tech industries. But his decision to call the election six months early was a devastating miscalculation.

After nearly 12 hours of vote-counting for 539 of Parliament's 543 elected seats, official results showed Congress and its allies were leading Vajpayee's 11-member National Democratic Alliance with 198 to 147 seats. Communist and other leftist parties have said they would back Congress, and they had gained 48 seats.

"We have not got the mandate of the people," said Venkaiah Naidu, president of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata party.

Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha lost his seat, while hawkish Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani retained his.

The opposition Congress party and its allies had earlier claimed victory. Italian-born and now an Indian citizen, Sonia Gandhi, 57, could become the fourth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to lead India if her party and allies choose her as their next prime minister.

Gandhi now faces the same challenges as she did in 1999, when she failed to take over the government due to disagreement over whether she should become prime minister. Among her potential allies on the left are senior politicians with much more experience; without their support she won't have a majority in Parliament, according to the incomplete tally.

The Congress party will take a day or two to stake its claim to form the next government, spokeswoman Ambika Soni told The Associated Press.

"The process of putting in place a secular coalition has begun," she said.

Gandhi is the widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 1991. Her mother-in-law, prime minister Indira Gandhi, was shot by her bodyguards in 1984.

Indira Gandhi's father, Jawaharlal Nehru, led India from independence from Britain in 1947 until his 1964 death.

Adding to the sweetness of her victory, Sonia Gandhi's 34-year-old son, Rahul, was elected to Parliament in the latest poll.

Before the five-phased elections, which began April 20, Vajpayee and his National Democratic Alliance had been expected to win enough seats to form a government and rule the country for another five years.

Vajpayee also campaigned on his diplomacy, which raised hopes of a lasting peace with nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Pakistan on Thursday said it hoped the peace process would continue.

Congress focused on the country's 300 million people who still live on about a dollar a day. It hammered away at the lack of even basic infrastructure, electricity and potable water for the rural poor.

"The BJP raised the slogan of development, but the people found there was no real development on the ground," said Kuldip Nayar, a political columnist and a member of the upper house of Parliament. "This is a verdict against globalization. Now the next government will have to think how to employ more hands than machines."

The voters also appeared to have listened to Gandhi's push for a secular India.

In the western state of Gujarat, the heartland of support for the BJP and scene of horrific Hindu-Muslim violence, voters seem to have rejected religion-based politics. Early results showed the Congress had won seven of the state's 26 Parliament seats, while the BJP had retained six.

Outside Sonia Gandhi's residence, supporters celebrated with drums and firecrackers.

"They said she is a foreigner, but the people have given them a reply," said Rati Lal Kala, 35, carrying a huge Congress flag and wearing a scarf in Congress' saffron, white and green colours.

Although Congress appears to be in the box seat, Gandhi and her allies must now finalize the shape of the government they hope to form before the new parliament meets as early as Monday.

In the unofficial early tallies, leftist parties, which have promised to support a Congress-led government, also appeared to be doing well and they could give the opposition the edge it would need to take power.

More than 380 million voters participated in five phases of balloting that began April 20. Forty-eight people died in election violence, less than half the deaths in the last elections in 1999.


This is certainly an intersting development. I especially like how they will be pushing for a secular nation.

[Icehawk]

Gah, didnt notice the thread already created.