India's coalition rallies around Vajpayee

Gauracandra · August 1, 2001

August 1, 2001 Posted: 6:09 AM EDT (1009 GMT)

Vajpayee's government has been rocked by political and financial scandals, and an inability to find middle ground with Pakistan over Kashmir

By staff and wire reports

NEW DELHI, India -- India's ruling coalition has rallied round Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, erasing fears for the 74-year-old leader's long-term future after he threatened to resign.

"Everyone expressed confidence in the prime minister's leadership and said at this point of time there could be no better leader," Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters Wednesday after a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Vajpayee himself told parliament he had offered to resign on Tuesday but had been persuaded to stay on.

Vajpayee's offer was seen by some analysts as an attempt to bolster the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, which has limped from crisis to crisis in its 21 months in office.

"I would see this as a game to strengthen his bargaining position in the party. I would be surprised if he reiterates the resignation," political analyst Yogendra Yadav of New Delhi's Centre for Studies of Developing Societies told Reuters.

Vajpayee failed to make headway at summit talks last month with Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, economic reforms have stalled and the NDA is rife with petty party politics and individual interests.

'Unqualified faith'

At their meeting on Wednesday the NDA stressed its "unqualified faith and trust in Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's leadership" and appeared to rebuke those sniping at him from within the government.

"The NDA shares the PM's disappointment and distress over the irresponsible actions and behaviour of some individuals which gave an impression of a lack of cohesiveness in our alliance," the NDA said in a resolution.

But Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav told reporters that leaders of the ultra right-wing Shiv Sena party, which had criticized Vajpayee over losses at the state-controlled Unit Trust of India, did not take part in the NDA meeting.

Kashmir continues to be a hotbed of unrest and violence, with ongoing skirmishes between India's military and rebels

Hindustan Times Editor Vir Sanghvi said in a front-page commentary that the Shiv Sena attack on the government's handling of the crisis at UTI, in which millions of Indians have invested, was the last straw for Vajpayee.

Addressing a meeting of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliament deputies, Vajpayee, 74, offered to quit because he was unable to ensure the smooth functioning of the NDA coalition and asked that a new leader be elected.

While initial reports said the prime minister also cited poor health and age as reasons for his offer, a BJP spokesman later denied that the question of health ever rose.

Health not an issue

"The prime minister is in better health than ever before," party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

Some newspapers said internal bickering was inherent in a government that was made of some two-dozen diverse parties with regional agendas to pursue.

"The way out of the mess does not lie in resignation," the Indian Express daily said in an editorial. "Indeed, were he to depart at this juncture, not only would it weaken the NDA government irreparably, it would smack of desertion rather than desire to clean up the mess."

If Vajpayee were to quit, the favorite to replace him is hawkish Home (interior) Minister Lal Krishna Advani, though most analysts say he does not have Vajpayee's ability to hold the coalition together for long and India could eventually be forced into a general election.

The meeting also decided to evolve a code of conduct for NDA members, Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav said.