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"UPA will remain intact after the general elections. All the alliance partners will support Manmohan Singh for the PM's post. UPA will form the government," LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan said on Friday at a press conference in the presence of RJD chief Lalu Yadav and SP supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Interestingly, Mulayam Singh Yadav remained silent when Paswan remarked about their support to Manmohan singh as PM after the elections.
Paswan said that the alliance between SP, RJD and his party were not a `fourth front' as being depicted by media and was formed to fight communal forces. "Whoever controls the combined 134 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand will be in a position to form the government in the Centre", he said
Echoing Paswan's comments that they were not a `fourth front', Lalu Yadav said, "We are with Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan singh. There are certain managers in the Congress who tried to create a rift between us during the seat-sharing discussion. However, we still say that Manmohan singh will be our PM candidate. UPA will come back and fight communal forces. Our aim is to form the government".
The RJD chief also said the three parties would not to field candidates against each others in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "The three parties will fight unitedly for the cause of poor, dalits, minorities and give a befitting reply to the communal forces. While SP will not field its candidates in Bihar and Jharkhand, LJP and RJD will not be fielding candidates in Uttar Pradesh", Samajwadi party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said.
Terming their alliance as `long term', he said that this unity would go beyond the Lok Sabha polls and would continue till the next Vidhan Sabha elections.
Addressing the trio as `brothers', Lalu Yadav said, "The war (election) has started and the three brothers have united to fight communal forces and to maintain unity and integrity of the country."
He also hailed Mulayam Singh Yadav's help in the formation of the UPA government and later saving it. Mulayam also announced holding of joint rallies by the three parties during which they will expose the doings of the Mayawati government and highlighting work done by the SP government", Paswan added.
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Lalu said that L K Advani could never realise his dream of becoming the prime minister. Commenting on the same subject, Paswan said that the alliance of RJD, LJP and SP had perturbed the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar as well as the rest of country and there appears to be no future for it.