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| Monday, 28 February 2005 |
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Congress wins key state but BJP make gains NEW DELHI, Sunday (AFP) - India's Congress party bolstered a recent string of electoral wins by sweeping a key farm state, but late results Sunday show it behind its chief rival in two other states that went to the polls in February. The chief minister of the north Indian state of Haryana, Om Prakash Chautala, conceded defeat to Congress after it was forecast to get 66 seats in the 90-member assembly. Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal party was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal coalition government that lost power in May 2004. However, the BJP surged ahead in late vote counting to come within striking distance of retaining power in Jharkhand. In Bihar, analysts expect a hung assembly raising the possibility of prolonged instability and federal rule in the lawless eastern state. "A Congress government will be formed in Haryana - it's a clean sweep," said pollster Yashwant Deshmukh. Congress, which leads a federal coalition government of more than a dozen parties, will now rule 15 of India's 28 states following its victory in Haryana and in Maharashtra state in October. An outright win in the farm state of Haryana is seen as strengthening Congress's hold over the federal coalition, where communist allies routinely pressure it on policy for the country's huge agriculture sector. T.R. Ramachandran, political editor of the Tribune newspaper, described the results as "a mixed bag" for the Congress party. The RJD was leading in only 76 of the 243 seats, Congress in nine and the opposition BJP and its allies were ahead in 96 seats. Independent parties are expected to hold the balance of power and were leading about 41 seats. Results for the remaining seats were still too close to call. |
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