The Hindu : Front Page : SP to support Pawar if need be

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 16, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

SP to support Pawar if need be

Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI: As Lok Sabha elections draw near, political activities are hotting up with discussions being held on possible alliances, post-poll scenarios and prime ministerial aspirations.

Even as the Samajwadi Party and the Congress which heads the United Progressive Alliance coalition have firmly indicated the possibility of entering into a pre-poll electoral understanding and arriving at a seat sharing arrangement in Uttar Pradesh, political one-upmanship, game of wits and pressure tactics have come into focus.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Sunday that his party would not oppose Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo and Union Minister Sharad Pawar for the prime ministerial post if such a scenario arose, but hastened to add that the party had no objection to Manmohan Singh’s second term.

“Right now we have Dr. Singh as the leader. But in case Mr. Pawar gets a chance or Mulayam Singh gets a chance they will not oppose each other,” Mr. Amar Singh told journalists after a meeting with the Maratha strongman. The two leaders are learnt to have discussed seat sharing arrangements.

The meeting came a day after Congress general secretary and Amethi Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi supported Dr. Manmohan Singh’s candidature for prime ministership.

Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had voiced her support for Dr. Singh’s candidature if the party and UPA returned to power.

NCP spokesman D P Tripathi described the talks between Mr. Amar Singh and Mr. Pawar as “positive.” He said the focus was on strengthening political cooperation, which was not limited just to Maharashtra.

He said the Samajwadi Party had helped the UPA in “difficult times” and so it was necessary to strengthen the UPA by taking that party’s support.

On Mr. Pawar’s candidature as prime minister, he said that at the moment “politics is pregnant with all possibilities and we have to see when it delivers.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page