UPA scores a stunning win in vote for stability

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) In an overwhelming vote for
stability, Congress and its United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
allies Saturday scored a stunning win in Indian general
elections humbling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left
parties to race close to an absolute majority.

The Congress-led UPA was poised to win about 260 seats
in the 543-member Lok Sabha on the basis of about 300 results
actually declared and the leads in the remaining 243
constituencies tonight.

UPA thus needs about 12 seats to cross the half-way
mark, a task that it can easily achieve without having to seek
the support from the troublesome Left parties who have lost
more than half their strength and are projected to win only 24
seats.

For the BJP and its allies in the NDA, the results have
come as a rude shock prompting the grouping's prime
ministerial candidate L K Advani to offer to step down as
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha which was turned
down by his party.

The NDA is projected to win 161 seats with the BJP likely
to get about 116 which is 22 less than 138 won by the party in
the 2004 elections.

Congress party's unexpected grand showing was largely
based on about 20 seats in UP, 29 in Andhra, 19 in Rajasthan,
15 in Kerala, 17 in Maharashtra, 11 in Madhya Pradesh besides
it doing well along with its allies DMK in Tamil Nadu(27
seats) and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal(19).

A triumphant Manmohan Singh who is set for a second term
as prime minister, attributed the victory to the "visionary
leadership" of party president Sonia Gandhi and to the hard
work put in by Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi, in turn praised Singh's leadership and lost no
time in reaffirming that he would head the new government
which is expected to be sworn in early next week.

The party president left the question of whether Rahul
should be included in the Cabinet to Singh, who said that he
would try to persuade the youth leader to join his team.

UPA's electoral sweep has made yesterday's much
sought-after parties such as Jayalalithaa's AIADMK, Mayawati's
BSP and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi party almost
irrelevant to government formation at the Centre.

Lalu Prasad's RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP, who
chose to snub the Congress before the polls by leaving just
three seats to it in Bihar, have been drubbed by the
electorate with the former reduced to four from 24.

Lalu was trounced in Pataliputra constituency but won from
the other seat--Saran--he contested. Paswan was defeated and
his party drew a blank in 12 constituencies it contested.
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