Sharad Pawar backs Manmohan Singh as PM

Expressing satisfaction over the performance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Pawar said that after the Congress' performance all its allies will support Manmohan Singh as the prime minister.

When asked about his own aspirations to occupy the top post, Pawar asked: "In view of the results, how could anybody else be a candidate for prime minister?"

Briefly analysing the UPA's victory, Pawar attributed it to the unexpected performances in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal which changed the entire scenario.

"The way in which the electorate has responded to the Left has also changed the political scenario. However, since the UPA may still need a few more seats, it cannot afford to say no to anybody," Pawar added when asked about the future role of the Left.

The former Maharashtra chief minister - who bagged the Madha seat by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes - said that the need of the hour was "a stable government" given the current global recession.
"I don't see any problems in the formation of a stable government. People are confident that only the UPA can provide a stable government, as the available results show," Pawar said.

So far, the Congress-NCP combine is ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance in the state in. The Congress-NCP has made a clean sweep of all six seats in the country's commercial capital Mumbai.