The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) president Sudhir Jalan said that the nation is greatly relieved of the political uncertainty and hoped that elections will be held at the earliest.Jalan said that past experiences teach us that a stable Government with a clear mandate is imperative to give a direction to the growth process and for signaling investment both from India and abroad. This would help the nation to insulate itself from political convulsions which create discomfiture to industry and trade.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) president K P Singh said the Cabinet's recommendation to the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha and order a snap-poll had become inevitable as the President had already provided adequate time and opportunity for exploring the formation of a new government. Assocham urged KR Narayanan to ensure that elections take place without delay.

Eicher group chairman and former CII president Subodh Bhargava said that it is good that the uncertainty is over as the exploration process of forming an alternative government did not yield results. "Hopefully the election process should not be delayed and the period when the economic activity is in a limbo should be short-lived". "All the political parties should commit to electoral reforms and that the economic policies should become more transparent". Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Rajesh Shah hoped that the EC would formally set in motion the exercise of holding the elections at the earliest possible time. He hoped that the elections would be conducted in an orderly manner and a strong government would be in place to take the economy forward.

Any delay in completing the elections would only damage the process of economic recovery, said Shah. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) president Ashok Khanna called for early elections to end the continuing political impasse as it erodes the country's image as well as its economic and investment climate.