India's Congress President Sonia Gandhi decided Tuesday not to
become prime minister and a senior leader Manmohan Singh could head
the new coalition government.
The dramatic development over the new government formation took
place Tuesday afternoon when Gandhi, who had met President A P J
Abdul Kalam in the morning and was to meet him again on Wednesday,
dispatched party seniors to leaders of allied parties, conveying
her decision not to take up the top post, the Press Trust of India
reported.
The general body of the Congress Parliament Party (CPP), which
had elected Sonia as leader of the CPP on Saturday, would meet
later in the day, apparently to elect a new leader.
The allies were also told that her decision was final and that
they should not insist upon her becoming prime minister.
Manmohan Singh met M Karunanidhi, chief of Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam, one of the major allies, Tuesday afternoon to convey her
decision, the PTI report said.
Singh also met Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader
Harkishen Singh Surjeet and told him of Gandhi's decision.
Meanwhile, the allies have assured the Congress leaders that
they would fully back any leader of the Congress party in the
formation of the new government, while they would prefer it to be
Sonia Gandhi.
The defeated Bharatiya Janata Party had said it would boycott
Gandhi's swearing-in because she was not an Indian by birth, even
though she has held citizenship since 1984.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2004)
