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Indian government on the defensive

NEW DELHI, India -- The Indian government has embarked on a campaign to quell outrage over the secret-tapes scandal.

Reeling from an arms bribery scandal, the coalition government of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has suggested it could seek a parliamentary vote of confidence to demonstrate it still has a mandate to rule.

Opposition groups, scenting their biggest opportunity since Vajpayee became prime minister in October 1999, demanded the government resign following allegations of corruption in the defense establishment.

Film secretly shot by Internet journalists showed a string of public figures, military officials and bureaucrats apparently accepting money to influence a fictitious arms deal.

"A trust motion is one of the options being considered at this point... We have a mandate to rule for five years and that we are ready to prove again," said an official of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the federal coalition.

Vajpayee has announced that a probe into arms bribery allegations would be completed in four months.

The scandal has already forced the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes and the chiefs of two parties in the federal coalition, including the BJP.

Fernandes claimed he resigned "to uphold the morale of our armed forces and prevent further damage to our national defense."

But the opposition parties were still not appeased.

'Steeped in corruption'

"The entire government is seeped in corruption... We demand the departure of this government on moral grounds," Sonia Gandhi, the head of the main opposition Congress party, told a party conclave in the southern city of Bangalore.


Police fired warning shots to contain protests after the scandal broke

Gandhi branded the planned government probe a "token gesture".

A regional party facing state elections has pulled out of the coalition because it said the government had been slow to respond to the allegations.

Analysts said the government would probably survive the crisis but its authority had been undermined and it would be more vulnerable to the demands of coalition partners, many of whom oppose economic reform.

"A confidence vote would be a logical thing to do, it will unite the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) but there will be work to do," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.

Vajpayee's office had come under a cloud for the first time after the documentary made a passing reference to two powerful officials considered close to him, Rangarajan said.

Vajpayee went on state television Friday night to tell the country an inquiry by a judge of the supreme court would get to the bottom of the allegations.

"You have my word. I shall get to the bottom of the allegations which have been made, I shall work to clean up the dirt that has come into view," Vajpayee said. "Let us get back to work."

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.