When results were announced on May 13, nearly all observers and participants -- includingPrime Minister Atal Vajpayee -- were surprised by the upset defeat of the NDA, and by asimultaneous resurgence of the Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow offormer Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which had forged strategic and unprecedented alliances withpowerful regional parties. On May 18, Gandhi stunned her supporters by declining the position ofprime minister in a new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, insteadnominating her party lieutenant, Oxford-educated economist Manmohan Singh, for the job. AsFinance Minister from 1991-1996, Singh was the architect of major Indian economic reform andliberalization efforts. On May 22, the widely-esteemed Sikh became India's first-ever non-HinduPrime Minister. Early alarm was sounded that the influence ofcommunists in New Delhi might derail India's economic reform efforts, however, Indian industrialleaders have sought to assure foreign investors that Left Front members are not "Cuba-stylecommunists," but can be expected to support the UPA reform agenda. (18) 

	Economic, Foreign, and Security Policy

Prime Minister Singh has insisted that development will be a central priority of the UPAgovernment, with reforms aimed at reducing poverty and increasing employment. (23) 

	India-U.S. Relations

It is as yet unclear how, if at all, the Congress-led government might differ from itspredecessor in terms of relations with the United States.
U.S. relations with India depend largely on India's political leadership. India's 2004 nationalelections ended governance by the center-right coalition headed by Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee and brought in a new center-left coalition led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Following the upset victory for the historically-dominant Indian National Congress Party led bySonia Gandhi, Gandhi declined the post of Prime Minister in the new left-leaning United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) coalition government, instead nominating her party lieutenant, Oxford-educatedeconomist Manmohan Singh, for the job. As Finance Minister from 1991-1996, Singh was thearchitect of major Indian economic reform and liberalization efforts. On May 22, thewidely-esteemed Sikh became India's first-ever non-Hindu Prime Minister. The defeated BharatiyaJanata Party now sits in opposition at the national level, led in Parliament by former Deputy PrimeMinister Lal Advani. A coalition of communist parties supports the UPA, but New Delhi'seconomic, foreign, and security policies are not expected to be significantly altered. The newgovernment has vowed to continue close and positive engagement with the United States in all areas. This report, which will not be updated, provides an overview of the elections, key parties, and U.S.policy interests.