Kalam seeks advice on hung House

MANDATE 2004

Anticipating a hung Lok Sabha on the basis of exit polls, President A P J Abdul Kalam has set in motion the process of consulting constitutional and legal experts on the course to be pursued in case no party or pre-poll alliance gets a majority in Parliament.

Former Attorney General K Parasaran on Tuesday met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of these consultations.

The President has also had a meeting with former Chief Justice of India J S Verma.

The last time when no party had emerged with clear majority was after the Lok Sabha election in 1998, President K R Narayanan had asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee as leader of the single-largest party and the largest pre-election alliance, whether he was 'able and willing' to form a 'stable' government, which can secure the confidence of the House.

According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué issued on March 15 that year, Narayanan noted that 264 MPs supported BJP-led government, which was short of the halfway mark.

However, when seen in the context of the Telugu Desam Party's decision of its 12 MPs staying neutral, the number was seen as adequate.

Another factor, which had helped the then President take his decision was his meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who informed him that her party, the second largest formation in the 12th Lok Sabha, would not stake its claim to form a government as it did not have the necessary numbers.

In the current situation, if exit polls are to be believed and according to the BJP's own assessment, it may have to form a minority government.

It is confident that the President will extend an invitation to it to form a government because it is likely to be the single largest party in the House.

But it is the danger of the NDA not reaching the 272 or simple majority mark, that is prompting the President to undertake proactive consultations.