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SLUG: 2-315878 India / Resignation (S)
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DATE=05/13/04 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=INDIA / RESIGNATION (S) NUMBER=2-315878 BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN DATELINE=NEW DELHI
INTRO: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has resigned after a surprise defeat in the national parliamentary election. The winners, a coalition led by Sonia Gandhi's Congress Party are due to decide on the next prime minister in the coming days. V-O-A's Patricia Nunan has more from New Delhi.
TEXT: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee handed his resignation to the president Thursday, ending nearly six years in power.
The prime minister had called the election for 543 seats in parliament six months early to capitalize on stunning growth in India's economy, especially in the high-technology sector. But analysts say his party's campaign slogan, India Shining, failed to appeal to millions of rural poor.
Independent political analyst Inder Malhotra.
/// ACT MALHOTRA ///
India Shining, its not just that it hasn't worked, it has boomeranged. Certain parts of India certainly did shine, but they are all in the urban areas.
/// END ACT ///
Leaders from the Congress Party are in discussions to decide whether they will choose party leader Sonia Gandhi to be India's next prime minister. But Mrs. Gandhi is unpopular with some Indians, because she was born in Italy. (SIGNED) NEB/HK/PN/RH/KBK |
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