Indian National Front Moves to Exclude Hindu BJP

NEW DELHI: The national election in India is almost over, but the politicking has only just started. Despite winning the majority of seats in parliament, control of the government is not assured for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Monday a leftist coalition called the National Front moved to keep the BJP from power, and gained an endorsement from the Congress Party. The soundly defeated Congress Party offered support to the Front, a loose coalition of socialist, communist and low-caste parties, but has yet to actually join up. With 530 of the 537 parliamentary seats accounted for, no one party has a majority in the lower house, and a coalition government must form. The President, Shankar Dayal Sharma is planning to wait a week to ask a party to form a government but his choice is by no means clear. Congress, led by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and the National Front are united for now by their desire to keep the BJP from power, claiming that the BJP's pro-Hindu message will alienate the country's Muslims, who make up 12 percent of the nation. Front leaders are hedging, unwilling to depend on Congress to keep their government steady. "The President is considering which coalition to pick, says TIME's Dick Thompson. "The BJP won the most seats, and many say it should have the opportunity to form a government, even if they fail. But Congress and the National Front say that more Indians voted for a secular government than for a Hindu one, and there is not much guidance in the constitution. Ironically, there is still a slim possibility that Rao may still run the show, even though his party lost the election." The election, adds Thompson, is not the main concern of most Indians. "They don't think much about it at all. Most contact with the central government is not happy, characterized by bribes and corruption. Indians tend to think that the bigger the politicians are, the bigger crooks they must be." -->