(May 2004 to May 2009; May 2009

to May 2014)

After the elections, the Congress joined up with minor parties to form the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which managed more numbers than the NDA. President Abdul Kalam called the UPA to form the government. The UPA with external support from the BSP, Samajwadi Party, Kerala Congress, and the Left parties managed a comfortable majority.

It was expected that Sonia Gandhi, as party president, would be the natural choice for the prime minister’s post. She declined the office, despite dramatic entreaties by her party members and the allies, stating that she was following her ‘inner voice’. She nominated Manmohan Singh for prime minister. She probably understood that her foreign origin would be exploited by the opposition to create trouble for the government. She, however, remained Congress party president and the UPA chairperson.

UPA Government: First Term

Manmohan Singh, former finance minister, who had initiated the economic reforms when in Narasimha Rao’s government, was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2004. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha.

A common minimum programme (CMP) was formulated to guide the policies of the UPA government. As the communist parties had an important role in devising this CMP, the government’s policies were perceived to be ‘left- of-centre’.