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India's Rao starts election campaign in home state

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao kicked off his general election campaign on Tuesday in his home state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the few where his ruling Congress party can expect an easy ride.

After a night in the Hindu shrine town of Tirupati, where he prayed for victory to Vishnu, the protector of the Hindu pantheon, Rao flew by helicopter to his parliamentary constituency of Nandyal in the south Indian state.

The prime minister is expected to fly on to Berhampur in the eastern state of Orissa on Wednesday, where he is also standing in the election. In India a politician can stand for more than one seat, but only represent one in parliament.

Rao met state party leaders during his overnight stop in Tirupati. They said he urged them to put aside personal differences and unite to fight the elections that are staggered over five days from April 27 to May 30.

The prime minister has had a rough start to the campaign, expelling two former cabinet colleagues and nine federal legislators from his ruling Congress after they stood against official party candidates in the election and refused to back down.

Opinion polls predict the election will result in a hung parliament, with no party holding a majority in the 545-seat Lok Sabha (lower house), and that Congress may end up with its lowest share of the vote since independence 49 years ago.

The result is likely to be followed by an intense period of horse-trading, as Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) try to cobble together alliances with regional parties in order to form a government.

Rao rejected suggestions of a hung parliament. "People know it will not be good," he told reporters in Tirupati. "People know how to avoid instability."

Rao told Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders that the party was fielding 287 new faces, over half the candidates, to try to bolster its image and prospects.

A political corruption scandal, which has forced the resignation of seven government ministers since January, has reinforced the poor image of the ruling Congress party.

Rao's decision to deny nomination to party members involved in the $18 million bribes-for-favours scandal has exacerbated divisions in Congress. Former human resources minister Madhavrao Scindia has formed his own party to contest his seat in Gwalior, where he is head of the former royal family.

The death of Rao's longtime adversary N.T. Rama Rao in January appears to have handed the Congress a bonus in Andhra Pradesh, as the former matinee idol's family squabbles over the legacy of his regional Telugu Desam party.

Commentators predict that Congress will win up to 38 of the 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh, up from 25 in the 1991 election, as the two factions of the Telugu Desam cancel each other out.

But the boot is on the other foot in neighbouring Tamil Nadu where Rao's decision to renew his electoral alliance with J. Jayalalitha's ruling AIADMK has led to a split in the state Congress and the expulsion of one of the prime minister's closest allies, former commerce minister P. Chidambaram.

The rebel faction, which is running as the Tamil Maanila Congress Party, is expected to make gains at the expense of the official Congress.

The split is a major blow to Congress, which needs to maximise its gains in southern India to balance its major rival, the Hindu nationalist BJP, which is stronger in the north.-Reuter