Congress attempts to block move

There were indications today that the Congress might approach President APJ Abdul Kalam and urge him not to invite the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form the next government if it failed to get a majority.

"We will convey to President Kalam not to invite the NDA to form the next government if they do not get the decisive mandate, seeking which they went to the polls," highly-placed Congress sources said.

"The government sought a decisive mandate and if they secure less seats than they sought it will mean the people have rejected them. In such a situation, it will have no moral right to stake claim," they said.

Congress Spokesperson Ambika Soni said if the NDA was unable to reach the figure of 272, it should not attempt to form the government. She compared the situation to the 1989 elections, when the Congress had barely won 197 seats and the late Rajiv Gandhi had decided against staking claim to form a government.

The sources declined to comment on suggestions that President APJ Abdul Kalam had two options. He may follow his predecessor K R Narayanan's example and seek a letter of support or invite the single largest pre-poll combination, as was done by SD Sharma.

While Sharma had invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996 on the grounds that the BJP was the single largest party, his successor Narayanan had sought a letter of support from Vajpayee in 1998.

The sources also said the situation would have been understandable if elections were held on schedule and the ruling coalition got "fewer" seats. But the NDA preponed the polls, which were scheduled to be held in September this year, expecting to cash in on their "feel good factor".

According to sources, the NDA had a fractured alliance with no ideological cohesiveness during the past five years. They cited the examples of the National Conference, Indian National Lok Dal, the NDA's track record with the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK and the indecisiveness of the Trinamool Congress.

They also said the NDA did not have long-term perspectives and that their policies were often placatory and ad hoc.