Srinagar, May 30: Congress today said it did not forsee a mid-term poll in Uttar Pradesh as an alternative government to the BSP-BJP combine headed by Mayawati was possible. "We don't foresee a possibility of mid-term polls in Uttar Pradesh as an alternative government can be formed in the state due to reduction of BSP-BJP combine to a minority in the legislative assembly," senior party leader Salman Khursheed told reporters during a media briefing at the ongoing two-day conclave of Congress chief ministers here.

Khursheed's statement comes close on the heels of withdrawal of support by 14-member Rashtriya Lok Dal to the Mayawati government. Both Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and RLD chief Ajit Singh, who recently quit the Union Cabinet, had separate meetings with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the last two days.

Mayawati is currently on a foreign tour.

Asked whether the party would lend support to Samajwadi Party to form the government, Khursheed said there was no such proposal at the moment. "But if there is any such proposal we will consider it," he added.

Asked about the role of Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri in the present crisis, he said the Governors' role should not be a matter of debate as they work under certain compulsions and secrecy. "We hope that the Governor sees through the reality this time and takes appropriate measures," he added.

Khursheed blamed the ruling combine for putting the state in a mess and said they were interesting in pulling the state out of this crisis.

Bureau Report