NEW POLITICAL PARTY FORMED; PAKISTAN-INDIA BATTLE AS BJP PROVES A POINT

Three rebel Congress (I) senior leaders who were expelled from the political party formed their own party the Nationalistic Congress last week. The Congress - which has been in power at Delhi for more than 45 years since India became free from Colonial rule - derided the efforts of the three leaders.

Meanwhile, the Congress (I) welcomed back its President Sonia Gandhi after she withdrew her resignation last week. At the general session of the party, all its members reiterated their faith in the candidature of Gandhi for Prime Minister in the forthcoming elections. The Nationalistic Congress is likely to further fragment the votes that were likely to come the way of the Congress (I) and it is in talks with several small and large parties for alliances.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led government has since last week commenced a campaign to weed out what it calls Pakistani infiltrators in the Kargil area located in the Ladakh sector of Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian defence forces claim that the infiltrators have captured unmanned Indian military outposts at heights of 16,000-18,000 feet in the mountain ranges. It has resorted to both air and ground strikes to stamp out the infiltrators. In the process, two MIGs and a chopper were struck down by Pakistani forces while an Indian pilot was shot dead and another captured. Casualties on both sides are running high, though the Indian armed forces have stressed that they will take out the infiltrators who are armed with sophisticated weapons even if it takes a few months. Both sides have been demanding that each should take steps to defuse the situation.

Opposition political parties have come out in support of the Indian military action.