NDA woos former allies to sew up majority

The NDA has began wooing estranged partners in a last-ditch effort to boost its strength and form a government, a day before votes are counted.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Wednesday began wooing estranged partners in a last-ditch effort to boost its strength and form a government, a day before votes are counted in a nail-biting election contest.

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The last-minute scramble came a day after a key ally slumped to a big defeat in a state election, sending shock waves through the NDA as it reinforced forecasts of an inconclusive verdict in national polls.

Coalition leaders were trying to win back at least four regional parties which had walked out of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government before the April-May elections in a bid to ensure the alliance crosses the halfway mark of 273 seats for a majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha.

"We are trying to get them back," a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said. "Even last time we got some parties to join us after the elections and some even after the results."

Vajpayee had banked on a strong economy, a good monsoon and improving ties with Pakistan sweeping him back to office.

But his campaign motto of "India shining" failed to resonate with many rural and urban poor who feel excluded from the economic boom and the signs of a poor performance have thrown a question mark over the future of economic reforms.

Analysts say reforms will probably continue but might have to be repackaged to counter the perception they have only benefited corporate India.

Vajpayee is credited as the main driving force behind a recent improvement in relations with old foe Pakistan. Analysts said the peace process might be slowed but would not be derailed if Vajpayee were to go, with most parties behind the initiative.

"TOTALLY UNEXPECTED"

The party leader said the BJP had not visualised a hung parliament and the magnitude of the loss in Andhra Pradesh state was "totally unexpected".

But the party had not decided to sit in opposition if it failed to get at least 250 seats as reported by some newspapers, he said.

Exit polls released after the five-stage vote that concluded on Monday showed the NDA falling short of a majority, a dramatic change in fortunes for an alliance pre-poll surveys said would easily return to power.

The BJP-led alliance got a foretaste of the shape of things to come on Tuesday when the Telugu Desam Party, the second biggest member in the coalition, was thrown out of office in Andhra Pradesh.

The result further rattled nervous stock markets and India's main stock index posted its biggest daily loss in nearly four years on Tuesday.

The index is down more than nine percent -- wiping more than $20 billion off the value of India's publicly traded companies -- since polls first suggested a hung parliament two weeks ago.

Andhra Pradesh's technology-friendly Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was unseated as he failed to focus as much on the state's farmers and the rural poor hit by severe drought as he did on transforming his state into a hub for IT firms, analysts said.

The result was a warning to Vajpayee, they said.