After attacks, PM battles for political life

By Alistair Scrutton

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's political survival may depend on finding a strong response to the attacks in Mumbai as Indians clamour for answers and action to the country's "9/11".

But if the track record of the quietly spoken "prime minister by accident" is anything to go by, the Congress-led government may find it hard to both appease voters ahead of general elections, and persuade Pakistan to act against militants.

"We have a figurehead prime minister," strategic affairs expert K. Subrahmanyam said. "There is an impression that the government is weak and not able to deal with terrorism."

Many voters want some kind of clear response to the attack that killed 183 people, from identifying and punishing the masterminds to trade sanctions against Pakistan, or passing harsh anti-terrorism laws within India.

At stake is not only whether the Congress party, already unpopular due to high inflation, gets beaten in elections in early 2009 against an alliance led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Also on the line is whether an India with perceived weak leadership will have the clout to pressure both the international community and Pakistan into clamping down on militants that New Delhi blames for the attacks.

"The government must find the right calibration of response," said Siddharth Varadarajan, diplomatic editor of the Hindu newspaper. "If it over-reacts it will please the domestic audience but alienate the international community. If it under-reacts it will alienate the voter."

"With elections round the corner... my fear is they could resort to the past," Varadarajan said, referring to India's massing of troops along the border in 2002 after an attack by militants on its parliament.