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Congress says it will stake claim for Govt formation

With the trends in counting of votes giving UPA a clear lead, Congress today said it would stake claim to form the government and hoped that President Pratibha Patil would invite it.

Updated on: May 16, 2009, 10:42:36 IST
PTI | By , New Delhi
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With the trends in counting of votes giving UPA a clear lead, Congress on Saturday said it would stake claim to form the government and hoped that President Pratibha Patil would invite it.

HT Image
HT Image

Congress General Secretary B K Hariprasad expressed confidence that UPA will emerge as the single largest party and along with its allies it will be able to muster the majority.

Asked whether the UPA could stake claim to form the government, he said, "Of course."

"We expect the President to invite the single largest party with its allies to form the government," he said.

Earlier, he expressed confidence that Left parties would extend support to Congress to form the government to avert the "danger" of "communal and divisive politics posed by BJP".

"We welcome support from all parties except BJP and Shiv Sena to form a secular govt... We need support of all secular parties whoever wants to support is welcome," he said.

The Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi's decision to go alone in Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh had made "a difference" which is reflected by the party's good performance in the state.

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