SP backs Manmohan as next PM

Samajwadi Party on Sunday favoured Manmohan Singh as Prime Ministerial candidate in the next general elections and said it would go to polls under his leadership.

"We will go to elections under the leadership of Manmohan Singh who remains our candidate for Prime Ministership," SP General Secretary Amar Singh said in an interview to Prabhu Chawla on "Aaj Tak" channel.

He also gave credit to the Prime Minister for bringing the two parties together. He was replying to a question as to who he would choose between Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as Prime Ministerial candidate, the SP leader said "the party was quite content with the leadership of Manmohan Singh."

The SP general secretary also indicated that the party favoured a pre-poll alliance with Congress in Uttar Pradesh in the next Lok Sabha polls and said it won't field candidates in Rae Bareily and Amethi, which are represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively.

"We want to have a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in UP and won't field candidates against the Congress in Rae Bareily and Amethi."

Singh also said the UPA government would comfortably sail through the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha on July 22.

"I won't reveal my strategy for saving the government but I am confident that we will get support of more than 290 MPs," Singh said, adding that the alliance between the two parties would continue beyond the next Lok Sabha elections.