Gandhi’s party leads in surveys

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 6

Gandhi’s party leads in surveys

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi

India’s political parties have begun preparing for a General Election on December 24. The governing Congress (I) Party of Rajiv Gandhi is well ahead in opinion polls. The unexpectedly early election date was announced just two days after the end of an official 12-day mourning period for Indira Gandhi, killed by two Sikh bodyguards on October 31. Political analysts said that it was the earliest date after the mourning period open to Mr Gandhi and reflected his anxiety to formalise his ascent to the nation’s top post. Opinion polls which before the assassination had shown a sharp slip in support for Congress now point to a big victory for the party, in part out of sympathy for the dead leader. Congress has a 190-seat majority in the 544-seat Lower House. The Opposition, which has only once beaten Congress in a General Election, in 1977, is divided into many parties. The Opposition ranges from the Right-wing Hindu B.J.P. Party to two communist parties. Despite

talks in recent weeks they have been unable to agree on a common policy platform or nation-wide seat alliances.

Opposition leaders say that they are confident of victory in the election. Devi Lal, of the main alliance, said that Congress’s potential lead had been eroded because the disturbances after Mrs Gandhi’s death had been provoked by party leaders.

The polls will select a Government to govern until 1990. There will be no voting in the Sikh-majority state of Punjab, or Assam, because of the still-troubled law and order there. Trade and business circles welcomed the election announcement and predicted a return to power for Congress. Businessmen said that this year’s record grain harvest, an oil boom, and steady economic growth over the last four years that put the untried Mr Gandhi in a strong position. The Government has announced that the curfew

over most of Delhi had been lifted. The capital was worst hit in nation-wide anti-Sikh violence, in which more than 1000 people, mostly Sikh, died.