India Vote Signals Return of Gandhis

Premier Vajpayee Quits As Ruling Coalition Falls

NEW DELHI, May 13 -- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Hindu nationalist leader who presided over an economic boom in India, its emergence as a declared nuclear power and a widely applauded peace initiative with Pakistan, resigned Thursday night after a secular opposition alliance led by the Congress party scored a stunning upset in parliamentary elections.

Although a new government has not been formed, Congress party officials said Vajpayee is likely to be succeeded as prime minister by party leader Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the head of modern India's most famous political dynasty.

The counting of results Thursday from elections that were spread over the past three weeks brought a dramatic and unexpected reversal for Vajpayee, 79, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the coalition that has governed India since 1998.

Only a few weeks ago, pollsters had predicted that the ruling coalition would coast to victory on the strength of India's recent economic growth, Vajpayee's personal appeal and his popular moves toward peace with Pakistan.

But if the government's campaign theme of "India Shining" played well with the growing -- and predominantly urban -- middle class, it apparently failed to resonate in the impoverished rural villages where most of India's billion-plus people still live.

With the count nearing completion Thursday night, official results showed that Congress and its allies would easily surpass the 272 seats required for a majority in the Indian Parliament's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and that Congress would occupy more seats than the BJP for the first time since 1996.

"When you gave us the mandate last time, stability, good governance and development were the challenges facing the nation," a somber, reflective Vajpayee said in a brief televised address Thursday night. "It is for you and history to judge what we have achieved during this period."

He added, "My party and alliance may have lost, but India has won."

Vajpayee's concession speech signaled a remarkable turnaround for the Congress party, which led India for almost half a century after independence from Britain in 1947 but in recent years had lost ground to the BJP. For much of its history, Congress was led by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, and his descendants. Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, served twice as prime minister and was assassinated in 1984. She was succeeded by her son, Rajiv, who was assassinated in 1991, two years after losing the office.

At a news conference Thursday night, Sonia Gandhi emphasized her party's secular credentials -- an implicit contrast with the BJP, whose leaders have often been accused of sowing enmity between Hindus and India's large Muslim minority.

But she also pledged to continue Vajpayee's peace effort, which began last year and has blossomed into regular high-level contacts between two nuclear-armed rivals that nearly fought their fourth war in 2002.

"From the beginning, we've been supporting Vajpayee's initiative with Pakistan," Gandhi said. "We said dialogue must be initiated with Pakistan. There is no question of us not following in that policy."

Some analysts questioned whether Gandhi would enjoy the same latitude as Vajpayee in negotiations with Pakistan over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir. "It's going to be very difficult for Sonia Gandhi, as a foreigner, to make concessions to Pakistan over Kashmir," said Prem Shankar Jha, a columnist for Outlook magazine.

The prospect of a government led by the Congress party and its allies also is likely to cause some apprehension in Washington. The Bush administration enjoyed warm relations with Vajpayee's government, with which it shared common views on economic policy and the need to confront Islamic extremism. Congress party leaders have been critical of the BJP's closeness to Washington and have said its economic reforms have hurt the poor.