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| India-Pakistan |
| INC heading back to power in India |
| 2009-05-16 |
| The leaders of India's Congress party have thanked the people for returning them to power with a "massive mandate". Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that they had made the "right choice" and PM Manmohan Singh vowed the party would "rise to the occasion". Earlier the main opposition BJP and the Third Front conceded they had lost. State television says Congress's alliance has won or is ahead in 263 seats, compared with the BJP's (154), the Third Front (60) and others (66). Congress should now find it easier to form a stable government. Mr Singh said: "I express my deep sense of gratitude to the people for giving us this massive mandate, for having reposed their faith in the party." He said that he would try to persuade Rahul Gandhi to join the cabinet. Sonia Gandhi said: "The people of India know what's good for them and have made the right choice." Earlier Rajnath Singh, president of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, told reporters it had not expected this kind of result. "We will sit together later today, once all the results are out, and analyse what happened," he said. BJP leader LK Advani has telephoned Mr Singh and Mrs Gandhi to offer his congratulations and the full support of his party to strengthen India, the BJP's Arun Jaitley said. Prakash Karat, the leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the key mover in the Third Front, accepted Congress had won. "The CPM and the Left parties have suffered a major setback," he said. The BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says that a small crowd gathered early outside Congress headquarters to celebrate, banging drums and chanting slogans. There have been celebrations in Mumbai and elsewhere. Our correspondent says several days of backroom deals still lie ahead but the prospect of a very weak and unstable government has receded. There were earlier reports that Home Minister P Chidambaram had lost his seat in Tamil Nadu, but a recount has now been ordered there. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #1 206 seats for the Indian National Congress. With the support of their local allies, they will easily form a government. Already there are calls for Manmohan Singh to step aside and allow Rahul Gandhi to take charge. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-05-16 14:29 |