Ghandi hit by record stock market fall

POLITICAL uncertainty and financial panic swept India yesterday after the stock market was shut down after it worst-ever plunge and two powerful communist parties refused to join a new government alliance under Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.

However, Italian-born Ms Gandhi, 57, is due to meet President APJ Abdul Kalam today to discuss the formation of the government.

She will take the oath of office tomorrow, said AB Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, one of several left-wing parties that have agreed to support a Gandhi-led coalition government in Parliament.