BJP to stay away from Gandhi inauguration

India's defeated Hindu nationalist-led coalition will not attend the inauguration of Sonia Gandhi as prime minister in protest over her foreign origin, a party official said yesterday.

The Italian-born Gandhi, a torchbearer of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, is due to stake her claim to power after more than 300 deputies from the 545-member lower house of parliament pledged their support to her Congress-led coalition.

But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which attacked Ms Gandhi throughout the election campaign, said a large number of Indians believed her foreign birth disqualified her from leading the world's most populous democracy.

"It will be a black day in the history of independent India," BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

"To give expression to the sentiment of the people of this country, we have come to a conclusion today that we will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony," Naidu said after a meeting at outgoing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's home.

But he said Mr Vajpayee would attend Gandhi's inauguration.

Ms Gandhi will be India's first foreign-born prime minister and follows her husband, Rajiv, mother-in-law Indira and Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister. Rajiv and Indira were assassinated.

More than two dozen people from the BJP's student wing gathered in the heart of India's financial centre, Bombay, and shouted slogans against Ms Gandhi.

"Is this India's identity - a foreign prime minister for a billion people?" read a placard held by a student.

Mr Naidu said the BJP, which suffered India's biggest election upset last week when results were announced, will not launch street protests against Ms Gandhi's foreign origin, but will keep the issue alive in parliament.

"If somebody is conducting an agitation and people join it, that is very much welcome, but as a party we will fight it out in parliament," he said.

Analysts say the BJP, stunned by the loss of power, could return to its chauvinist Hindu roots after its attempts to capture the middle ground failed to enthuse voters.

The Congress party, which unanimously elected Ms Gandhi as its parliamentary leader on Saturday, dismissed the BJP's protests over her origins and said the party was still to recover from its shock election defeat.

"There is an internal struggle going on in the BJP after their defeat," said party spokesman Ambika Soni.