Prez rule in UP cannot be ruled out altogether: Digvijay

New Delhi, Mar 2: After Sriprakash Jaiswal, another Congress leader Digvijay Singh suggested that the possibility of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in face of a hung assembly cannot be ruled out altogether.

"Every political party if it has majority has the right to form government. If two, three or even 14 parties or 16 parties can together notch up a majority they have a right. "And if no party is in a position to make a government without any alliance as had happened in 2002. No party was in a position to form a government for some months. Then what is the option?" Singh told reporters.

He also said that the party will stake claim to form the government if it got majority or even became the single largest party. "If we get majority or became the single largest party, then we will stake claim to form government in UP," Singh said. He was speaking to journalists after meeting Home Minister P Chidambaram here.

The Congress has so far been maintaining that it will have no truck with BSP, SP or BJP in forming government after elections. Asked about the Election Commission's notice to the three union ministers for violations of model code of conduct during UP elections, the senior Congress leader said there is a need be clear on this that whether to talk of election is violation of model code of conduct or not.

"If saying what is mentioned in manifesto is violation of model code of conduct, we have violated it otherwise did not do it," he said. At the AICC, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said nobody said that President rule would be imposed if Congress did not come to power and cited the clean chit in this matter by the Election Commission to Union Minister Jaiswal as a vindication of his arguments.

PTI