Kolkata: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary Purno A Sangma today (Jan 7, 2004) said that the option of joining National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls was still open while reiterating that his party would not accept Sonia Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

"The option of joining NDA is still open and a decision by the NCP will be taken on January 14," Sangma said.

When his attention was drawn to yesterday's comment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Pramod Mahajan that the attempted tie-up could not be worked out, Sangma said, "After that comment, lots of developments have taken place."

"I met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in Delhi last evening, Sharad Pawar met Jaswant Singh and Praful Patel met Vankaiah Naidu, hence the issue is not yet closed," Sangma, who met Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee, said.

He further said that all these meetings were part of preparatory exercise for the January 14 crucial meeting of the NCP in which a decision would be taken.

While conceding that seat-sharing exercise in Maharashtra was the major stumbling block in joining NDA, the NCP leader said, "We still have serious reservation on Sonia Gandhi's leadership, an issue which led to the formation of NCP five years ago."

When reminded of Sonia Gandhi's recent comment that leadership issue may be taken up after the poll, he said, "She may say that now but I know Congress Party very well and I am certain that if the party wins, there will be demonstrations by party workers demanding her as the Prime Minister."