Coalition

According to the Sarkaria Commission report, if a leader has to be selected from among a group of parties, in the order of preference, “an alliance of parties that was formed prior to the Elections” comes first.

The Punchhi Commission guidelines also said: The party or combination of parties which commands the widest support in the Legislative Assembly should be called upon to form the Government. If there is a pre-poll alliance or coalition, it should be treated as one political party and if such coalition obtains a majority, the leader of such coalition shall be called [to form government].”

Naidu met Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati before holding a meeting with Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in New Delhi on Sunday.

The Left is not keen on the course of action suggested by Naidu. A senior Left leader said, “We don’t need to go to the President till the results are actually out. We have advised other parties that we should maintain our unity in the public ...and give public statements about our commitment. We can only meet the President after the results are actually out.”

The Congress and some other parties had been keen on drafting a pre-poll Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to showcase the strength of the anti-nda camp in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election. That initiative didn’t go beyond preliminary discussions.

During the day, Naidu held a second round of talks with Congress president Rahul Gandhi to discuss the outcome of his meetings with Mayawati and Yadav in Lucknow on Saturday. Naidu also met United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. He also met the Congress’s Sam Pitroda.

During the meetings, the opposition leaders discussed the strategy to be adopted after the results are declared on May 23.

Soon after his meeting with Naidu, Pawar said they had assessed the likely election outcome in their respective states.. “We assessed the elections in our respective states. We are waiting for counting day to take further steps,” he said. About the possibility of a meeting of the combined Opposition, he said it will take place only after May 23.

NAIDU HELD A SECOND ROUND OF TALKS WITH RAHUL GANDHI TO DISCUSS THE OUTCOME OF HIS MEETINGS WITH MAYAWATI & AKHILESH YADAV ON SATURDAY