New Delhi, Nov 20: Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has ruled out supporting Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister after the next general elections even if it was the only way to keep out a government led by BJP and has insisted that the Congress has to change its leader. He has also said that Priyanka Gandhi was also not acceptable as a possible Prime Minister as "she is not a Member of Parliament. She has not proved her mettle."


"Difficult. We will not accept. The Congress has to change its leader," Pawar said in an interview to a television channel. He was asked if the next elections threw up a hung Lok Sabha, would he support a government led by Sonia Gandhi if that seemed like the best way of keeping the BJP out.

Pawar countered saying that why not Congress also think in that direction. "If they are serious about keeping BJP out, it should not insist on leader".

"My suggestion is that Congress should keep the BJP out and they should elect any other person to lead", he said but replied in the negative when asked whether he would accept Priyanka's leadership. Pawar, who was the leader of the opposition in April, 1999 when the Vajpayee government fell, said that it was "normal parliamentary practice" for the leader of the opposition to be invited to form the government.

Bureau Report