Pawar's poll analysis: Cong will need crutches

New Delhi: Any new Congress government may have to rely on support from the Left parties or regional parties to win a parliamentary majority after elections, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said.

"We should not forget one thing, that without the support of the Left it wasn't possible for us to provide stability in government for four years," Pawar told Reuters.

Pawar, chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has been mentioned as a possible compromise Prime Minister if there is no clear winner after the April/May election.

The Congress-led United Progressive government relied on the parliamentary support of the four-party Left Front for four years before they withdrew to protest a civilian nuclear deal with the United States.

The government then switched last year to the Samajwadi Party to continue in power. "When they withdrew, immediately Samajwadi Party has come forward to support ... So we have to accept one thing: the situation might come that we have to depend on these political forces."

Pawar said a Congress alliance could do better than 2004. He said millions of farmers had done well with rises in prices of farm products like wheat offsetting an economic slowdown. But he hinted that there could be hard fought coalition negotiations after the poll, and it would be more likely the Third Front could turn to Congress. "In such situations, I don't think these Third Front friends will be able to support the NDA or BJP."

Publicly, Congress has said it will do well enough to avoid another tie up with communists.

But leading Left leaders have now said they could talk to Congress, and Pawar was candid. "I think today they (the Congress) are saying no, but reality will be when both of us have to accept each other."

Pawar himself was coy when asked if he may be Prime Minister. "As I said I'm a private person, I will be able to react on this set of questions after the polling."

Pawar's comments highlight an investor's nightmare: a repeat of the 2004 election aftermath when left allies blocked Congress from making many economic reforms, such as privatisation.