Pawar meets Sonia

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) Congress President Sonia
Gandhi has held consultations with Nationalist Congress Party
leader Sharad Pawar and reached out to RJD chief Lalu Prasad
and LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan, apparently laying the
ground for government formation after the results of India's
general elections are out on Saturday.

Pawar, who appeared to have given mixed signals with
his partymen pushing his claims for prime ministership, drove
to Gandhi's residence Wednesday night and held discussions for
over 30 minutes, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) sources
said.
Apart from that the Congress president also spoke on
telephone to Lalu Prasad and Paswan as TV exit polls predicted
a slight edge for the Congress-led UPA in the tight race for
power at the Centre.

During the campaign, there was a lot of bad blood
between leaders of Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD),
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), the troika
forming the Fourth Front, but Gandhi scrupulously kept herself
out of the war of words.

Highly placed sources said Gandhi was in regular touch
with allies and the party would wait for small outfits to open
their cards once the results are out.

Meanwhile, asked about possible tie-ups, Congress
General Secretary Digvijay Singh said that it only considered
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena as communal
parties.

"Only BJP and Shiv Sena are communal. We won't have
anything to do with these parties who spread hate and
communalism," he told reporters here.

Asked whether Congress would seek an alliance with
All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), he merely
said "AIADMK is not a communal party."

Gandhi also held consultations with senior leaders to
discuss their strategy for possible post-poll alliances.

Gandhi is seeking the opinion of the state leaders and
also the party general secretaries. PTI AMR
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