By AMY WALDMAN
Published: May 18, 2004
NEW DELHI, May 17 — Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born leader of the Indian National Congress party, will formally stake claim to be India's next prime minister on Tuesday, party officials said Monday night. The announcement came after the country's stock market recorded its biggest single-day fall amid concerns over the new government's approach to economic reforms.
Mrs. Gandhi is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday. But before she takes office, she is facing formidable political and economic challenges.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which lost to the Congress party in an upset last week, said Monday that it would boycott Mrs. Gandhi's inauguration to protest her foreign origin and would continue to raise the issue. The Communist parties allied with Mrs. Gandhi's party said they would support the new government, but not join it, which could make policy consensus more difficult.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/international/asia/18INDI.html?ex=1085544000&en=32d6735d9a6d89fe&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE