A TENUOUS HOLD ON POWER

AS HE TRIES TO FORGE A LASTING COALITION, INDIA'S NEW PRIME MINISTER IS VERY SHORT OF POTENTIAL ALLIES

More than 300 million Indians stood in line to cast their ballot in the general elections held from April 27 to May 7. Now that virtually all their votes have been counted, it is clear enough what most Indians were against: the Congress Party, the political juggernaut of Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru that has ruled India for all but four years since 1947, when the country gained independence from Britain. Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao is out, and the party, burdened with an image of corruption and lassitude, lost almost half its seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house...

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