Congress will fight the next election alone: Kesri

Congress president Sitaram Kesri says his party will fight the next Lok Sabha election alone.

"We will not have an alliance with anyone," he said in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, "And the Congress will not force a mid-term poll."

However, he said the party was ready for such an eventuality and would not shy away from it if it was required.

Kesri made it clear the Congress support to the United Front at the Centre would not prevent it from going all out in the states. The UF constituents, he clarified, would be treated as rivals there, and the party would fight out the election with them. The clarification came after he was questioned about his proximity to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

''When we are talking national politics we are friendly, but when we are in the field we are two. There is no question of my Delhi politics interfering with the politics in the state,'' he said.

Kesri dismissed the factionalism in the Congress saying it was a feature of all democratic political parties. "Our party will not break up because of that," he said. "When the time comes, all factions will join together and fight."

The Congress president, however, sidestepped the many allegations which former prime minister H D Deve Gowda had made against him. "I am not going to reply to him," he said, "He is seeking vengeance because he has been thrown out of power."

Defining his presence in this southern town on his first visit to the state, the Congress president said he had come to assess the reactions of the tribals and villagers.

''I am extremely satisfied (with it),'' he said, "The way the crowds are coming, the Congress will come back to power in the state.''

UNI