India Opposition Says It Has Selected Leader

Opposition politicians said Thursday they had cleared the way for one of their leaders to become India’s next prime minister.

The National Front’s Parliament members were scheduled to meet today to officially elect Vishwanath Pratap Singh head of the five-party National Front coalition.

He then will probably be asked by the president to serve as prime minister.

Mohan Guruswamy, an associate of Singh, said another contender for the job, Chandra Shekhar, had been persuaded to withdraw his candidacy, and that no one in the alliance would contest Singh’s nomination.

Singh, 58, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but he has insisted he does not want to replace Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. But Singh’s colleagues said he has no choice.

“He has to bow to the wishes of the people and the party. He has no alternative,” Guruswamy said.

Gandhi resigned Wednesday after his Congress-I party failed to win a majority in last week’s parliamentary elections. But President Ramaswamy Venkataraman asked him to continue until a new government is formed.

With results for all but two of the 525 contested Parliament seats announced by Thursday night, the Congress-I had won the most seats at 192. Its small-party allies together won another 17.

The National Front has 143 seats and has been promised support by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, with 90 seats, and by several left-wing groups, which won 51.

That would give the centrist National Front 284 seats, more than the 263 needed for a majority.

The rest of the seats went to small parties and independents who have not taken sides.

Elections for 18 seats are to be held later.

Singh, a former defense and finance minister, is the best-known leader in the National Front. But the mild-mannered politician has said he just wants to be president of the People’s Party, the largest component of the National Front.

“Singh is not sure he will be able to handle a hung house,” said a senior leader of the National Front who asked to remain anonymous. “That was why he was so hesitant to become the prime minister.”

Another source in the National Front said: “Singh was told he has no business to be in politics if he does not seek office.”