Sonia Gandhi may stake claim today

Sonia Gandhi may stake claim today.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's candidature as Prime Minister was endorsed by virtually all the parties in the Congress-led alliance and efforts at government formation continued with more heat than light today. The Left could not decide whether to stay out of the government or join it and a final decision could take as long as May 18.

A day after the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 14th Lok Sabha, all that had been decided was that the Congress Parliamentary Party would meet at 11 am today, first to be introduced to Gandhi, and then to elect her its leader.

The Congress has planned that she will go to Rashtrapati Bhavan at 5 pm tomorrow to stake claim to form the government. MPs also said Gandhi would be sworn in on Monday, though this could not be confirmed.

The Left parties and Samajwadi Party betrayed their confusion by starting a series of worker-level consultations on the feasibility of joining the Congress-led government when the option of supporting it from the outside was open.

A national-level meeting of the Left parties in the midst of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo and the central committee meetings in Delhi on May 15 and 16 will decide whether the Left should join the government.

At least one hurdle was removed when CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar announced they had no objection to Gandhi's prime ministership.

But incendiary remarks on crucial issues like disinvestment, foreign investment and the foreign policy thrust came thick and fast from the Left parties, obviously in an attempt to set the terms for possible participation in government.

Some in the Congress, as well as former Prime Minister VP Singh, said unambiguously that it would be advisable for the Left to join the government fearing that they may adopt a more militant stand if supporting from outside because then they would have power without responsibility.

However, a large chunk of the Congress said if asked to join, the Left would curtail the Congress' freedom in taking crucial administrative decisions. Much of the Congress disfavoured the idea of doing a deal with Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party for fear of losing its Muslim base in Uttar Pradesh.

At a press conference, Harkishen Singh Surjeet said he was trying to bring together all the non-Congress parties that had fought this election under one umbrella.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Pawar had an extended meeting with him and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi had consultations on the telephone. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha General Secretary Muktinath Upadhyaya said his party would like to join the Congress-led government.

But it was the Left that represented the biggest problem. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya made it clear that while opposition to communal forces was acceptable, he did not think supporters of the World Bank like Manmohan Singh could be supported by the Left.

CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan hit out at the economic policies of the Congress. Other Left constituents, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc, said they would not join a Congress-led government.

In an attempt to evolve a common minimum programme, Sonia Gandhi had an extended meeting of the party's core committee, comprising Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Arjun Singh. Portfolio allocation was not officially discussed. Unofficially, several lists were in circulation.

Over the weekend

• May 15-17: The CPI-M politburo and central committee meet.
• May 15 & 16: The Nationalist Congress Party working committee meets.
• May 16: National-level meeting of the Left parties.
• May 18: RSP decision on joining government.
• May 15: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to meet Sonia Gandhi.