Only Congress can give a stable central govt: Antony

Amid various dilemmas over the future survival of United Progressive Alliance after the 15th general elections, and the possibility of a third-front government, the Congress has made it clear that it’s not going to support any third alternative.

Defence Minister AK Antony on Friday said that the Congress would not support any other fronts after the Lok Sabha polls. And Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister candidate for the UPA coalition.

Antony, who is in Kerala campaigning for the Congress-led United Democratic Front, said: 'No one other than Manmohan Singh will get the support of the Congress party for the post of prime minister.

Expressing confidence over the performance of his party in the coming assembly elections he said: ‘We are confident that we will be the winners and will form the next government. The other parties can come and support us,' and added that only the Congress can form a stable central government.

Presently, Congress has parted its ways from two of the frontline UPA partners: Lalu-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar. Another UPA partner- the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party too has formed differing alliance in Orissa with Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is against Congress.

However, Antony said, in his today’s rally, 'The Congress has decided that we will not ally at a national level with any party. It is only the Congress which is contesting in all the states. Can you tell me one more party (of the United Progressive Alliance) which is doing that?' Antony said.

Furthermore commenting on the newly formed Third Front, he said: 'It's is just a dream and everyone is free to dream.'

Meanwhile, three of the most important political players in this election Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan in a joint press conference pledged to form the UPA government with Congress after the election despite their differences in state level politics. All three together hold a major portion of vote share in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand; these three states jointly constitute a total of 134 parliamentary seats, enough to play crucial role in forming government.