Lucknow: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on October 20 firmly ruled out extending support to a Sonia Gandhi-led government at the Centre after the next Lok Sabha polls.

"If Congress gets majority on its own in the next Lok Sabha election, then the NCP has nothing to say. But if Congress needs NCP support to form government, we will not accept Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister," national general secretary of the party Jagannath Mishra told reporters on October 20.

He said the NCP feels that the leadership issue is a non-starter at this moment.

"This issue should be discussed after the elections," he said, adding that NCP has already made its stand clear on this issue.

Mishra demanded that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders who had recently advocated creating a "Hindu rashtra" be arrested under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

"Secularism is enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and by giving such statements, the VHP leaders have challenged Indian statute and therefore they should be arrested under POTA," he said.

PTI