ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996                 TAG: 9605130061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, INDIA
SOURCE: Associated Press

INDIAN LEADER RESIGNS ELECTION LOSS OPENS THE WAY FOR HINDU NATIONALIST PARTY

Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and his Cabinet resigned Friday after an election loss that opened the way for India's lower castes to have a voice in running the world's largest democracy.

Rao's Congress Party has ruled India for almost all of its 48 years of independence. But stung by infighting, corruption scandals and poorly chosen alliances with regional parties, it appeared headed toward a second-place finish.

Final counting was expected to be completed this weekend.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was likely to place first, winning up to 190 of the 537 seats contested; Congress was expected to win up to 140 seats, state-run television said.

The National Front, an alliance of leftist and low-caste parties, was predicted to win 120 to 130 seats. Smaller parties will divide the remaining seats but could be instrumental in the formation of a coalition government.

President Shankar Dayal Sharma accepted Rao's resignation and asked the 74-year-old leader to stay on as a caretaker until a new government is in place.

Sharma now must choose a party to form a new government. That party then would have to win a vote of confidence in Parliament within 30 days.

A.B. Vajpayee, leader of Bharatiya Janata, was to meet Sharma today to discuss forming the next government. The National Front also planned to meet with the president, state-run television said.

``Because the future of the country is at stake, we should combine all the secular forces of the country,'' said Rama Krishna Hedge, a National Front leader.

Both Congress and the National Front have said they won't link up with Bharatiya Janata because the Hindu nationalists are perceived as biased against Muslims, who make up 12 percent of India's 920 million people.

Bharatiya Janata advocates arming India with nuclear weapons, taking a more forceful policy toward Islamic neighbor Pakistan, and tightening restrictions on foreign investment, especially in consumer industries.

In an interview Friday, Vajpayee sought to reassure Indians, saying the country would remain secular and Muslims would not be subjected to discrimination.

LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao at a rally 
          in Gaya May 4, one of his last appearances before the election.