A senior party leader, who declined to be identified, insisted that the party has become wiser by the experiments of 1990-91 and 1996 during which it gave support from outside to the governments led by Chandra Shekhar, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral.
Noting that those were "not exactly happy" experiences, the
leader said if the situation arises the Congress would have only a UPA-III government and the question of giving outside support to a minority government does not arise.
His remarks had assumed significance as they came close on the heels of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav claiming that the Third Front will form a "stable government" with Congress' support after Lok Sabha elections.
Yadav had said that the way election trends appear, BJP will not be able to reach the magic figure and form government and the Congress will emerge the weakest after elections.