http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/world/asia/22india.html?_r=1&oref=sloginPolitical Blocs Realign in India Ahead of Confidence Vote
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: July 22, 2008
NEW DELHI — A new party led by the daughter of India’s so-called “untouchables” rattled the political establishment this week by poaching its former allies and vowing to bring down the government.
The maneuvering by the new party’s leader, Kumari Mayawati, reflected a redrawing of political lines as Parliament began Monday to debate a confidence motion on the administration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The realignment and political rhetoric signaled that every party in India was preparing for elections, whenever they may come.
The confidence vote, scheduled for late Tuesday and apparently extremely tight, centers on India’s deepening strategic and commercial ties with the United States.
It is the first time in the history of independent India that a foreign policy disagreement threatens to bring down a democratically elected government...