UPA may not contest polls together: Paswan

Lok Jan Shakti headed by Ram Vilas Paswan, a constituent of the ruling UPA, does not see the possibility of the alliance contesting the next elections as a combined force, and feels it is too early to name Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

Constituents of the UPA have sometimes contested against each other in assembly elections - like in Meghalaya and Bihar - and a similar trend may be witnessed in the Lok Sabha polls too, Paswan said in remarks that may not be in line with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

"There is less possibility of pre-poll alliance within the UPA across all states...It is possible to have pre-poll alliance in one state but not in every state," Paswan said in an interaction with senior PTI journalists.

On whether he would prefer the UPA projecting Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate, Paswan said the question "does not arise at this moment. You are talking about the candidate, he is already a Prime Minister."

He also parried a question whether Rahul Gandhi will be a good Prime Ministerial candidate.

Pawar had recently said the UPA and the Left should contest the next elections together. He had also mooted the idea of projecting Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

Paswan described Singh as "excellent" and "honest" Prime Minister who has succeeded in holding the coalition together notwithstanding inherent contradictions. "As a Prime Minister, he is doing an excellent work. Running a coalition government for five years is not a child's play in the midst of so many contradictions when the Left parties are launching some movement or the other," he said.