INDIA's political crisis edged towards resolution yesterday after the deposed prime minister, Mr H. D. Deve Gowda, agreed to step down as leader of his recently ousted multi party United Front coalition to avoid fresh elections.
Following Mr Gowda's resignation MPs predicted that another United Front coalition government under new leadership and supported by the Congress party would be in office by April 21st, when parliament meets to prove the 1997-98 budget.
"It was a choice between Deve Gowda or elections," said United Front spokesman Mr Jaipal Reddy yesterday.
A formal decision on the change of leadership will be made after the Front's steering committee meeting later this week. But United Front MPs indicated that there was "growing consensus for making Mr G. K. Moopnar, a little known south Indian politician from Tamil Nadu and leader of the fledgling Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), its leader and prime minister.
Mr Moopnar, who speaks broken English and virtually no Hindi (India's national language), is a former Congress party member who broke away to form the Tamil Maanila Congress after disagreements over electoral alliances before last year's general election. He won 20 parliamentary seats and joined the coalition.
Front Party MPs said Mr Moopnar's closeness to several Congress party leaders including Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the influential Italian born widow of former prime minister Mr Rajiv Gandhi would benefit him "tremendously" in becoming the new leader.
MPs said he was also acceptable to the Front's 45 Communist MPs who had earlier threatened to quit the alliance if Mr Gowda was forced out. But in the interest of avoiding elections they too had changed their stand and were now willing to consider a "suitable replacement."
Mr Gowda is at present taker prime minister after his government lost the vote of confidence in parliament last week. He had no choice but to resign, as his departure was the price being demanded by Congress for its renewed support for the 13 party, left of centre, coalition.
"It is a major victory for the Congress party," said a Congress party spokesman, Mr V. N. Gadgil. Congress officials said a formal announcement on Congress support for a United Front coalition is expected soon.
No party in India's 545 member Lok Sabha (lower house) can muster 272 MPs to form the government. Most want to avoid elections, the second in less than a year, convinced that they too would lead to a hung parliament.
The United Front has 178 MPs, Congress 140 and the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies 193.
