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Congress prefers mid-term poll, says Pawar

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar today said the Congress would prefer to go to the polls rather than experiment with yet another hotch-potch coalition if the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party collapses.

Speaking at the Indian Merchants' Chamber in Bombay on economy and politics, and later to reporters, Pawar said the Congress would not initiate any move on its own that could lead to a mid-term election.

But if anything goes wrong because of the government's own inner contradictions, "we will have no choice but to seek a fresh election as the country cannot afford instability any longer".

Pawar, without mentioning the volatile allies of the BJP like the Trinamul Congress and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, had a dig at the Vajpayee government for the frequent embarrassment it faces from their repeated threats to withdraw support.

"We don't want to face similar embarrassment by repeat of such a hotch-potch government which will have to every time look to Calcutta or Madras for its survival," he quipped.

But Pawar also said the Congress would not shirk its "constitutional responsibility" to form a government if the situation so demands.

Answering a question on the prediction that the country is in for a mid-term poll after March and the Congress will sweep it, Pawar said that while he would not hazard a guess on numbers, the general mood in the country favours the Congress.

He rejected a suggestion that the Congress lost the 1998 election because of infighting, and said the party always believed in pragmatism, indicating that it did not stake its claim then to form the government in view of the practical difficulties involved.

He asserted that the Congress is not in a hurry to grab power at the Centre. "Our first and foremost priority is revival of the Congress as a strong party which will provide a stable government, which the country needs most."

Quoting the party's Pachmarhi resolution, Pawar said revival of the party and fighting communal forces had been accorded priority, and the party would go it alone in the next election.

But he did not rule out "adjustments" with secular parties wherever it is unavoidable, only as a tactical move.

UNI

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