President should use yardstick of stability in forming new govt.: Digvijay Singh

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): Congress party general secretary Digvijay Singh has said that with the end of the five=phased elections, the Congress will expect President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to invite that party or coalition of parties that can offer the nation stable governance.

Speaking in an interview to a national news agency, Singh said: "We expect the President to go by the book. She will go by the Constitution."

Asked whether the single largest party or alliance should be invited, Singh said: "Single largest party...This is something which is the discretion of the President. What is her assessment? Who will be able to give a stable government? Stability should be the yardstick."

In an apparent indication of his party leaning once again towards the Left, Singh described the Left parties as "very pragmatic, practical and very political group which has been consistent in their approach in the fight against communal parties in the country."

The Congress, he said, would be "flexible" in negotiations but the issue of leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was "non-negotiable".

For the moment, he said that the Congress is not contemplating about sitting in the Opposition as it did after it lost the elections in 1989.

He also suggested that not tying up with the Samajwadi Party was a blessing in disguise.

When told that the Left parties do not want to play second fiddle to the Congress in the next government, Singh said in a coalition government there is "no first or second fiddle and Prime Minister is only the first among equals."

Asked whether the Congress would support the Left if it said it wanted to form the next government, Singh said the numbers would reveal which way to swing and act.

He also said that it was upto Rahul gandhi to decide if he wanted to join the new Cabinet. (ANI)