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Vote Counting Today

Congress, BJP step up hunt for allies

Pallab Bhattacharya, from New Delhi
As India waits with baited breath for the results of parliamentary elections today, with the possibility of a hung parliament looming large, ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped up their hunt for allies across the political spectrum to put together coalitions that will help them catapult to power.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ally Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi Thursday night, and spoke to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)
President Ram Vilas Pas wan over the phone.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee met Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh and is reported to have lured him to participate in a coalition government, while Mukherjee's party colleague also Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath spoke to another regional outfit and potential ally, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik.
Sonia's talks with 1-alu and Paswan assumed significance as Congress had failed to reach a seat sharing accord with the two regional politicians in the Lok Sabha poll and fought their parties in Bihar. Lalu and Paswan were also upset over Rahul Gandhi's praise for their rival
SEE PAGE 15 COL 7 FROM PAGE 16 also Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
At the other end of the spectrum, BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani yesterday held a closed door meeting with his party's policy makers like Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, and some others about the number crunching and post poll parliamentary arithmetic.
What has set the political circles here abuzz is a meeting between BJP President Rajnath Singh and Amar Singh, at a wedding reception where the former was the host. Amar Singh's party is now an outside supporter of Congress-led UPA government, a role it has donned ever since left parties withdrew support to the alliance in July last year.
Amar Singh however claimed before the media yesterday that his talk with Rajnath was not political.
With neither Congress nor BJP projected by exit polls to reach anywhere near the majority mark of 272 seats in the 545-strong Lok Sabha, both the principal contenders for power are faced with the challenge of not only scouting for new allies but also to ensure that existing coalition partners are not poached with the lure of power. And in this effort, ideologies blur and loyalties count for little.
In a bid to reach out to as many parties as possible, Congress said it is willing to tie up with all parties except 'communal' BJP and Shiv Sena, to install a secular and
progressive government at the centre.
This is a shift from Congress' familiar stand of having no truck with any constituent of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) until they leave that grouping.
BJP, on the other hand, is hoping that some regional parties like BID in Orissa and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh whose main political plank is opposition to Congress in the states, will be attracted to NDA.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on what President Pratibha Patil does once the poll results are out; which party or coalition she will call first to form the next government?
The questions doing the rounds'in political circles are • the following: (1) will the president invite the single largest party or a pre-poll alliance or (2) the party or coalition which she assesses will be able to provide a stable government.
Constitution experts say the president may ask claim-ants to governmentformation to come up with letters of support from allies before inviting them to form a government.
Whichever party emerges with the highest number of seats might get the president's invite to form a government, provided she is convinced that the letters of support produced by the leader of that party has enough number to provide a stable government.