Gujral to be sworn in at 1000 hours IST

Inder Kumar Gujral will be sworn in as India's 12th prime minister at 1000 hours IST.

The President has given Gujral two days to prove his majority on the floor of the House. The vote of confidence will be held on Tuesday, April 22.

Talking to journalists soon after meeting the President, Gujral said he would work out the modalities for the formation of his Cabinet after the swearing-in.

The Lok Sabha, which will convene for a three-day session on Monday to transact financial business, is expected to adjourn on the first day as a mark of respect to former Orissa chief minister Biju Patnaik, MP, who died last week.

Earlier, the Congress and United Front on Sunday assured President Shankar Dayal Sharma that they will have better coordination to ensure the smooth functioning of the new government.

This assurance was given to Dr Sharma by Front convener Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Congress president Sitaram Kesri when they went to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening. Naidu met the President separately for a while. He informed the President that the Front was willing to evolve a better mechanism for coordination with the Congress.

Kesri later joined Naidu in assuring the President of his party's support to the UF government. Naidu, however, ruled out the possibility of the Congress joining the UF government.

The Front's steering committee discussed for two hours on Sunday afternoon what UF sources called a ''coordination formula'' for the Congress to ensure a smooth run for the new government.

It is understood the coordination committee will consists of 20 members from both the Congress and the Front.

UF spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said the parliamentary level coordination committee -- consisting of Congress and Front MPs -- will ensure the smooth functioning of the Gujral government.

Reddy said Gujral and Kesri will also meet periodically to sort out any festering problems. However, the Congress support for the UF government, he added, was unconditional.

The President is understood to have conveyed to Kesri and Naidu during his meetings with them on Sunday morning the need to evolve a mechanism with the Front for "efficient running of the new government.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Lal Kishinchand Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also met the President on Sunday night. The two BJP leaders spent about 30 minutes with the President soon after Kesri and Naidu met Dr Sharma.

Early on Sunday morning, the United Front formally staked its claim to form the next government.

The Front leaders had a half-hour meeting with the President and urged him to invite Gujral, who was elected leader of the UF parliamentary party earlier in the morning, to form the government.

The President assured the Front's leaders that he would examine their claim and let them know accordingly. He is expected to seek the advice of legal and constitutional experts before communicating his decision to the Front.

Naidu also submitted a one-page letter -- signed by leaders of the 15 constituents of the Front, that Gujral had been elected the UF's new leader in place of caretaker Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda -- to the President.

Soon after his meeting with the Front delegation, the President invited Kesri for consultations. After his meeting with the President, Kesri called a meeting of the Congress Working Committee.