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BJP ALLIANCE WINS
HANDS DOWN,
BUT ITS TASKS FOR GOVERNANCE HAVE JUST BEGUN
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies
- a ragtag of around 20 political formations - operating
under a common front, the National Democratic Alliance,
stomped their way to victory in the elections to the
Lower House of Parliament. While the BJP secured 182
seats, its allies secured another 114 seats in the elections
for the Lower House, giving a total tally of 296 seats
out of 537 seats for which elections were held. The
Congress and its allies bagged 134 seats while the Left
Front secured 42 seats, and others accounted for 65
seats. The Congress (I) trump card, party president,
Sonia Gandhi and her two children, failed to do the
trick.
While the election results have sent
a pointer that the Indian populace is willing to put
up with a coalition government, the Prime Ministerial
candidate Atal Behari Vajpayee has his task cut out
for from while forming his new government by 14 October.
Allies such as the Telugu Desam have been demanding
that the post of finance minister be given to one of
its nominees, a former Reserve Bank governor. He will
have to bring all his skills to bear while allocating
portfolios for various ministries.
Observers expect a spate of laws to be
passed cleaning up the mess in telecom, insurance, foreign
exchange, and patents legislation. Vajpayee is sure
to bring about legislative changes, which will ensure
that his coalition government is not toppled once again
like it was earlier this year through a vote of confidence
in Parliament.
The stock exchange greeted the NDA victory
with gusto, sending the Mumbai stock exchange past the
5,000 mark, for the first time in its history. Stocks
such as Zee Telefilms also gained a new peak when it
crossed Rs 5.
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