Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, May 18: The process to put in place the next government at the Centre was set in motion on Monday with the outgoing Union Cabinet recommending the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh submitting his as well his Council of Ministers’ resignations to President Pratibha Patil.
The Head of State is now expected to invite the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which has emerged as the largest pre-poll alliance with 261 Lok Sabha seats, to form the next government.
President Patil has spoken to several constitutional experts, including former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, after a clear verdict emerged in favour of the UPA post Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress-led UPA, which is over 100 seats ahead of its nearest rival, the BJP-led NDA, is falling short of 11 seats from the 272 half-way mark in Parliament. However, the Congress-led alliance is believed to have mustered the required support to form the government at the Centre.
The Congress is planning to approach the President with letters of support from at least 20-30 more MPs that will obviate the need for a Confidence Vote in Parliament.
Congress to meet allies
The Congress, which has emerged as the single-largest party in the 15th Lok Sabha with 206 seats, is also preparing to meet its pre-poll allies on government formation before considering new partners.
The decision has left the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) waiting despite making overtures to the Congress regarding their participation in the next government.
The grand old party is however believed to be open to accepting external support of “all secular parties, except those with the BJP or Shiv Sena,” Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters.
“No discussion took place (in the meeting) about anybody - this was not on the agenda,” he said, when asked about the possibility of including the RJD and the SP in the government.
Dwivedi was speaking after a Sunday evening meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present.
Earlier on Sunday, RJD chief Lalu Prasad told reporters on his arrival in the national capital: "Whether I am part of the government or not is another thing. We will always support the UPA."
SP general secretary Amar Singh said: “We are for constructive support. It is up to the Congress how much support they want from us and in which form."
Asked about this, the Congress spokesperson said: “We will first sit and discuss (government formation) with our pre-poll alliance partners after a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (on Tuesday) about government formation.”
He said evolving a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) would also be discussed with the party's allies.
First Published: Monday, May 18, 2009, 10:01