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India's Congress says coalitions mean chaos

NEW DELHI: India's ruling Congress party, facing polls predicting it will lose its majority in coming parliamentary elections, warned on Tuesday that a coalition government could create political and economic chaos.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and party spokesman Vithal Gadgil told business leaders that coalitions lead to chaos and only Congress, which has ruled India for all but four years since independence in 1947, could provide stability.

"We are going to have a clear majority and we are going to form a government on our own," Mukherjee said, brushing aside a string of surveys pointing towards a badly-split parliament following elections which start on April 27.

The opinion polls have stirred speculation about possible governing coalitions.

But the Congress officials said their potential partners were all running on anti-Congress platforms, and non-Congress coalitions all ended in disarray.

"The question is not coalition or lack of it. A coalition for what?" Gadgil said.

"The moment Congress is out of office, then they (other parties) don't find any reference point at which they can combine together, and they start quarrelling among themselves," Mukherjee said.

"When you have a non-Congress government in this country, it has been followed by economic dislocation and some sort of confusion."

The foreign minister, who is part of a core group planning Congress's campaign strategy, conceded that Congress could lose Tamil Nadu state, a pillar of support in 1991 when Congress and its regional partner it won all 39 parliamentary seats there.

A revolt by Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu has jeopardised the party's chances there, polls indicate.

Mukherjee said Congress could also go down to defeat in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Bihar states, where the ruling party won only six of 139 seats up for grabs in 1991.

"We may lose Tamil Nadu or we may lose U.P. or Bihar, but the hard core fact is only one political party exists in every point of this country," he said.

"Who can provide a stable government? A combination can do (it). But what would be the basis of that combination? What would be the foundation of that combination?

"Unfortunately in India's political system the basis of that combination has not yet emerged," said Mukherjee, who is deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and was commerce minister before taking on the foreign affairs portfolio.

He and Gadgil both said Congress unambiguously favoured deeper economic reforms and foreign investment.

"The pace of economic reforms must be accelerated," Gadgil said. "There must be no fear of change."

"By inviting multinational corporations, are we compromising our economic sovereignty? My answer is an emphatic no," Mukherjee said, claiming the opposition wanted India's economy to "live in isolation, in a cocoon".

On Monday the leftist Janata Dal party attacked Congress's liberalisation policies, saying it would restrict the entry of multinationals. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has said it would "go slow" on allowing in foreign investment.

The polls will be held over six days starting on April 27 and ending on May 30. Counting in all but six constituencies begins on May 8 and a clear picture is expected by May 10.-Reuter