India's ruling Congress-led coalition today began choosing a small group of allies to push the alliance to a parliamentary majority and focus on reviving the economy after a sweeping general election victory.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition defied predictions of a tight election and was only about 12 seats short of an outright majority from the 543 seats at stake, according to election commission data.
In a country where unwieldy coalitions were becoming the order of the day and hobbling policy, the electoral verdict this time means Congress will call the shots in coalition building rather than being dependent on the goodwill of regional parties.
The Congress must form a government by June 2nd.
While a strong mandate gives the reformist Mr Singh the freedom to pursue market-friendly reforms, Congress party leaders struck a cautious note saying they would rather focus on reviving domestic demand in the backdrop of the global financial downturn.
Financial reforms, such as the opening up of the pension sector to foreign participation and raising foreign investment limits in insurance, had been blocked by the former communist partners of the Congress coalition.
During the election, the Congress had campaigned on a record of spending on the rural poor, including a huge public jobs programme in the countryside and a costly loan waiver programme for indebted farmers, and was unlikely to give up such a platform.
Reuters