It is likely that the Congress with support from the other parties may manage to form a Government, but the new ruling coalition will not be able to press or preserve the economic reforms because of inherent ideological contradictions among the partners.

In the emerging situation, the Congress-led Government will have to work against its manifesto to keep the allies happy and satisfied lest the new government should fall under its own weight sooner than later. The best the Congress can be doing, feel observers, is to postpone the economic reform process to a futuredate in the hope of coming to power with workable majority in the Lok Sabha.

The second generation of economic reforms on which the finance ministry has already started working with a view to preparing a discussion paper, will be put on hold for the time being in the background of political uncertainty and likely emergence of a motley Government with opposing ideological foundation.

The allies, on which the survival of the new Government would depend, have already started talking tough and also issue-based support which do not go hand in hand with the line the Congress had been pressing for the past one decade.

On the economic front the immediate task before the new Government would be to restore the confidence of the international and domestic investors and keep up the "feel good factor" which the BJP-led coalition tried to push forward through its 1999 budget. The budget has been preserved, but minus the "feel good factor" as the new Government will not be in a position to pursue the proposalsannounced by finance minister Yashwant Sinha in his budget speech.

To keep up the momentum of reforms, the finance minister promised to come out with a discussion paper on the second generation of reforms. The finance ministry has started the exercise by inviting ideas from state governments and industry associations. It is unlikely that such a paper would be prepared by the new Government and subsequently tabled in the house.

Not only that, the reforms initiated way back in 1991 by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh, is unlikely to be taken to its logical end by the government of the same party. The immediate impact would be on the opening of the insurance sector. A Government supported by the Left parties will never be able to open this sector to Indian or foreign companies. The whole process would be put on the back burner.

Secondly, it would be impossible for the new Government to raise Rs 10,000 crore by way of disinvestment of shares of the public sector enterprises. The Left will not allowthe Government to go in for strategic sale of public sector undertakings. On the other hand, the Government would be coerced to provide funds for the survival of the ailing sick public sector undertakings even at the cost of pushing up the fiscal deficit.

In matters relating to WTO, the Left line is clear. It had even suggested that India should walk out of the trading arrangement. Although the Left may dilute its stand, it will mot miss a chance to embarrass the Government by putting a spoke now and then.

With regard to steps for encouraging foreign investment, the Left would do everything to prevent them unlikely the Congress which had been welcoming it in all the sectors for supplementing the domestic capital.