No. We would not like to be blamed for being unable to run a coalition government for even one full term. But it is important to realise that we have a much more difficult task in leading a coalition than the BJP had with the NDA, because their allies had fewer seats. The Left parties and the Samajwadi Party have a combined strength of 100 seats. That makes them more powerful than the Shiv Sena, which was part of the NDA.

• VARGHESE GEORGE: Do you think the Congress can return as the lead party? Do you see the Left as an ally in the future?

That would depend on the parties’ strength at the time and the mind of the electorate at the time of polls. In the 1977 elections, Congress lost badly in states like Bihar, Delhi. MP, Bengal and Orissa. But the southern states supported us. We swept through the country after Mrs Gandhi’s death in 1984 but we got only a few seats in Andhra Pradesh. What matters is the dominant consideration for the electorate at the time of the elections. If it does not want fragmentation, it will go for a strong mandate. I hope there will be a dominant majority after the next elections.

• SHEKHAR GUPTA: Has this coalition experience been tougher than what you had anticipated?

I never thought a coalition could work. However, it has, and much of the credit must go to Mrs Sonia Gandhi. She went the extra mile to cover all possibilities. Whenever there has been tension, her mediating role and influence have had considerable impact on all parties.

... contd.