Hectic lobbying continued yesterday as Indian opposition parties tried to cobble together a coalition government to replace the outgoing one led by the Hindu nationalists, who lost a confidence vote in parliament by a single vote at the weekend.
But deputies from the Congress party, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, were confident of being able to soon form a government. With 139 deputies in the 543-member Lok Sabha (lower house), the Congress needs the support of at least 133 MPs.
All parties agreed, however, to pass the Financial Bill without debate at a special session of parliament tomorrow to avert a financial crisis. The annual federal budget was presented by the outgoing government last month but needed parliamentary ratification before May 13th to become law.
Analysts, meanwhile, questioned the stability of a Congress Party-led coalition and said fresh elections were the only way out of the political impasse. "The present parliament cannot throw up a viable government," the Eco- nomic Times said yesterday. India's political crisis could not have come at a worse time. While the controversial federal budget cannot be debated, the outcome of eight rounds of negotiations with the United States after India conducted multiple nuclear tests last May before agreeing to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty remains in limbo.
So do peace talks with Pakistan, which is locked in a missile and arms race with New Delhi. India and Pakistan test-fired missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads last week.
The outgoing prime minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajapyee, undertook a historic bus journey to Pakistan in February. It led to a peace treaty that undertook confidence-building measures to reduce the risk of an accidental nuclear war and intensify efforts to resolve all contentious issues left over from the three wars both sides have fought since independence 52 years ago.
The future of the recently constituted National Security Council, which was to formulate a nuclear doctrine, finalise the command structure for India's declared minimum deterrent and undertake the first strategic defence review, is also nebulous.
Meanwhile, scores of Indian astrologers and numerologists are once again in the ascendant, "preparing " the heavens for their political mentors attempting to form a government.
"At the present juncture no government can run India," said the prescient astrologer Ajay Bhambi. He said the situation was not going to change till the next general election. But others said carefully "nurturing" the stars could turn things around.
