SP, Pawar in, Surjeet says we’ll decide today

He said there was no opposition to Sonia Gandhi becoming the leader of ‘‘the combination’’ and thereby the Prime Minister. ‘‘Who else is there? Do you need another candidate? Do you want a long list?’’ he shot back when he was asked whether any name other than Sonia Gandhi was being considered for the top job.

He wouldn’t comment on the participation of the Left or CPI-M in a Sonia-led government: ‘‘If I give you my personal opinion, how will I face my politburo and central committee tomorrow. You want me to be in trouble?’’

But Pawar, who had a long meeting with Surjeet today, subtly applied pressure on the CPI-M by insisting that the NCP would do whatever the CPI-M does.

‘‘He (Pawar) and Mulayam also said that they will follow the CPI-M’s’’ footsteps, he admitted, adding lekin pressure se hoga. The central committee, which has many members from Kerala where the CPI-M is pitted against the Congress, has to take the final decision. The same committee committed the ‘‘historic blunder’’ by voting out the proposal to make Jyoti Basu the prime minister of the United Front government in 1996.

Although Surjeet said that his party would not bargain on the issue of joining the new government, it was quite clear that the Left had its own idea on what policies were to be adopted.

‘‘We cannot repeat their (NDA) mistake for which they were voted out. It has to be broad-based government, where all those who were in the struggle against communal forces should take part to make it a stable formation,’’ he said.

Overruling the Congress point, Surjeet insisted that the SP should be part of the core group of the new government. ‘‘Others (that the BSP) can join later,’’ he said. The decision on when to go to the President, Surjeet said, would be decided tomorrow morning.