NEW DELHI, March 5: Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma today said with AIADMK, Trinamool Congress and Samata Party expressing reservations on joining the government, the BJP and its allies with a strength of 250 seats would not be able to provide a "cohesive" coalition.On the other hand, the Congress with its long experience could give a stable government with the help of its allies and United Front which together had crossed the 260-seat mark, Sangma told PTI here.President K R Narayanan, in the given situation of a hung Parliament, has the "discretionary power" to call either BJP or Congress to form a government along with the help of their allies, he said in reply to a question.As the Indian Constitution is silent on how the President should go about in such a situation, the only document to guide him is the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission on the formation of a government in states, he said.Quoting the recommendations, he said guidelines to Governors equally applied to the formationof a government at the centre and thus the party or the combination of parties enjoying widest support should be called upon to form the government.He said pre-election alliances of BJP had been "diluted" with its allies AIADMK, Trinamool Congress and Samata Party unlikely to participate in the BJP-led government.If the President chose to go by the spirit of the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on the majority issue, he should invite the Congress to form government, Sangma said.Asked whether either of the two groups was capable of providing a stable government, Sangma said "It depends on how the combination approaches the national issues. Leadership will also have an important bearing on the stability of the government."Sangma said Congress had an advantage over others of having the experience to provide a stable government even when it was in minority.
