A day before the first phase of the general election for the 15th Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today spoke warmly about his “working” with the Left parties and indicated that the Congress was open to alliances with a range of political parties, even those contesting against it.

At an interaction with members of the Editors Guild of India this morning, asked whether the Congress would take Left support to form the next government, Singh said: “We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now, I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government (with allies). I have dealt with the Left parties, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar. I have dealt with Jayalalithaa, DMK and PMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb (PDP leader). I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces,” he said.

Asked about his dealing with the Left until it withdrew support, Singh said: “It was a matter of great privilege (working with them)...I was quite happy working with the Left and Left leaders. I have great respect for their integrity in their personal lives. I was sad that they had to leave on the question of the nuclear deal which they felt very strongly about.”

When asked if the Congress would support the Left in forming the government given that CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat had said the Communists would not support a Congress government, Singh said: “We will deal with this question after the election results are out. But the fact is the present arrangement has worked well.”

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