TOI

New Delhi, Jan 22: Cracks seems to appear in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) over who would be the next prime minister if the coalition comes to power following general elections, which are likely to be held sometime after April this year.

The NCP, an important UPA ally, has decided to project its leader Sharad Pawar as the next prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections.

A decision on the issue is likely to be taken during the national executive meet of the NCP that is being held on Thursday.

Speaking to TimesofIndia.com, NCP spokesperson D P Tripathi said that the party would discuss the issue in its executive meet.

The Congress, on its part, has reacted strongly to the NCP's demand and opposed it.

The Pawar-led NCP also threatened to talk to "other secular parties" if Congress failed to get the UPA allies on board by ensuring seat sharing with constituents on the basis of their proportional strength, PTI reported.

"I K Gujral also became prime minister so did Chandrashekhar who received outside support from 211 members," D P Tripathi told reporters when asked about Pawar becoming prime minister.

He said NCP is aware that it does not have the numbers but the issue of prime minister depends on the political situation emerging after the Lok Sabha elections.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the working committee, he said the party was looking forward to contest 45-50 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, including 26 in Maharashtra.

Tripathi said the NCP would announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls by next month.