The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Friday said that there were no differences between himself and Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking onboard his Air India One, his special aircraft, on his way back home after state visits to Japan and Thailand, the Prime Minister said: "There are no differences between me and the Congress President. I consult her on all issues that require consultations."
In recent times, the Congress has dismissed suggestions of a disconnect between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and reports that Singh was sulking after he was forced to dump his 'favourite'ministers' Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal.
The party also said that the reports about differences between Dr. Singh and Sonia Gandhi were rumours and disinformation, and maintained that Singh would remain in office until 2014.
Even when the UPA-2 had presented its report card on May 22, Gandhi scotched all rumours of an alleged rift with the Prime Minister.
She said that she and the Congress party fully backed Prime Minister Singh and his government's policies, and there was no room for anybody to say otherwise.
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In fact, it was emphasised that both the Congress and the Prime Minister's Office have acted in tandem to dismiss such rumours, which have been surfacing from time to time.
The Congress party's media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi recently told media persons that both the Congress president and the Prime Minister shared a perfect relationship.
"There cannot be any better relationship between a party president and a Prime Minister," he said, adding that the "reports about differences between PM and Sonia Gandhi are rumours and disinformation, and Congress condemns it." There is no doubt that Manmohan Singh will remain PM till 2014, he said.
PMO sources said "All these rumours of a PM-Sonia disconnect on the resignation of the two ministers are baseless."
AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who had recently stirred the controversy over dual power centre, on Monday said that there was no disconnect between Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister.
Targetting the opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their obstructive form of politics, which has prevented the government from passing crucial laws for the overall benefit of the people of India, Dr. Singh that he did not agree with the view that there was a disconenct between UPA-1 and UPA-2 regimes.
"There is continuity between UPA-1 and UPA-2. My regret is that the opposition is playing obstructive politics since their (electoral) defeat in 2009," the Prime Minister said.
Replying to a question about the Left Front withdrawing support to the UPA-1 and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee exiting from UPA-2, and whether he was looking to reach out to potential allies if and when UPA-3 is formed, Dr. Singh said: "In politics, there are no permanent enemies or friends.