Next govt will be a Congress-led coalition says Kesri

Congress president Sitaram Kesri said the government at the Centre will be a Congress-led coalition.

Talking to newsmen after formally staking his claim to form the next government, Kesri demanded that Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda should resign on moral and political grounds after the Congress has withdrawn support.

Kesri made it clear that the Congress was united and there was no question of any split. ''The party is as united as on January 3 when I was unanimously elected as Congress Parliamentary Party leader,'' he claimed.

The Congress leader said he had taken the decision to withdraw support only after consulting all the working committee members. However, he had kept the timing of the action to himself.

Kesri asserted that the economic liberalisation process would continue and there would be no deviation. The Congress, he said, had formulated the policy keeping in view the overall national interest.

His party, he said, would firmly adhere to a pro-poor orientation in all matters especially in meeting the aspirations of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes. Strengthening the secular base of the country to ensure socio-economic and political realisation still remained the cornerstone of all his party's policies.