Crystal Ball/K N Rao

The new UF leader will come from south India

If you are an Indian, you have to live with the cynicism that Indian politics breeds. Yet, spiced in between, is the sparkling and sardonic wit of those who have nothing to do with politics.

"We should not talk of a stable government," says one. "Indian politicians think 'stable' can mean only one thing - a shelter for horses. As a result, their anxiety for a stable government leads to horse trading."

"Then," countered another friend, "Indian prime ministers should not live at Race Course Road."

And, according to Sir Paul Harvey's Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, "The horse is much esteemed in Homeric times and the breeding of horses was practiced with care and was a source of wealth." Rome's Nero (the king who sat fiddling while the city was burning) preferred mules and 'shod them with silver.'

But people still want to know the identity of the next prime minister. It's a difficult prediction - for I will need the horoscopes of Moopanar, Laloo Prasad Yadav and some others. Yet, we astrologers have our little tricks.

You can draw your conclusions by looking at the following:

Directions of Planets

Sun	East
Moon	South east
Mars	South
Mercury	North
Jupiter	North east
Venus	South west
Saturn	West
Rahu	South east
Ketu	South east

The Indian Independence horoscope's dasha scheme shows the directions represented at the moment. Venus (south west), Rahu (south east) and Rahu pratyandaradasha will last up to April 21, by which time the United Front will have elected its new leader, who will also come from south India.

But the government they will form will definitely not be stable. This is clearly indicated in the new year horoscope. The Congress will offer unconditional support -- meaning that there is no condition laid down for how long they will extend their support.

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