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Exit polls show no clear majority

Indian parties busy finding partners to forge coalition

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
India's ruling Congress and main opposition BJP were busy yesterday crafting their strategies to cobble a coalition to rule the country after exit polls by television news channels projected a highly fragmented mandate in parliamentary elections giving neither of the two parties clear majority.
Even as the channels were flashing exit poll results ahead of actual counting of votes tomorrow, Congress President Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and other senior leaders of (he party including, Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony, late on Wednesday night to firm up a strategy for government-formation.
On the other hand. BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani held talks with party colleague and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi yesterday morning to explore possible new allies.
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Modi is understood to have been deputed by the party to try and secure the support of ALADMK led by Jayalalithaa with whom he has a good rapport.
Another senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje was reportedly asked to get in touch with BJD leader and Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and secure his party's backing. BJP and BJD have parted ways just before parliamentary polls this year after more than a decade-old alliance.
Jayalalithaa, whose party is expected to do well in Tamil Nadu, said she is getting overtures from many parties for support but she would respond only after counting of votes on May 16.
In a significant statement Congress was buoyed yesterday by Left parties' indication that it would end up backing the Sonia Gandhi-led party to assume power. Sources in Congress said that if the Left, which had withdrawn support to the Congress-led government less than a year ago, comes round to supporting Congress, it would attract other regional groupings which would not like to be on the losing side.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told “The Economic Times" in an interview published yesterday that the Left is trying to install a non-Congress and non-BJP government at the Centre.
But his more important remark in the interview was tha he Left was determined to prevent BJP from exploiting the situation and coming to pow’er.
Sources said if Left parties fail to secure the required number of seats and put together a non-Congress and non-BJP government, they will be left with no option but to support, directly or indirectly, a Congress-led dispensation.
Throughout the election campaign, the Left had cried hoarse flaying Congress' economic and foreign policies and maintained that there was no question of supporting a Congress-led government after the elections
Indirect support could see the Left tactically sitting in the opposition benches in Parliament and allow a minor ity Congress led government, like the P V Narasimha Rao government from 1991 to 1996, and not joining hands with anybody to vote out a Congress-led government,
said the sources.
Congress and BJP are understood to be in touch with parties outside their respective alliance-fold to rustle up the required number and both sides claimed they are capable of putting together a stable coalition.
The exit polls projected Congress-led UPA having a slight edge over BJP-led NDA, opening up a key role for Left and regional parties in installing a coalition government.
Neither UPA nor NDA was shown anywhere near the halfway mark of 272 in the 545-member Lok Sabha, indicating they will have to be critically dependent on support and pressures from a motley collection of regional and Left parties which are projected to get 110-130 seats.