M Veerappa Moily argued that a government would be stable only when it is led by a national party (File)

Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily Thursday said he does not rule out the possibility of regional parties forming government with the support of a Rahul Gandhi-led alliance, but said such a dispensation would not be stable and not last long.

He said the third front experiments in the past with smaller parties heading the government --whether it was led by VP Singh or Charan Singh or Chandrashekhar -- have been failures.

"Any future government will be stable with one national party leading regional parties and the government," Mr Moily told PTI in a telephonic interview, ahead of the declaration of Lok Sabha election results next week.

Asked if he does not foresee the possibility of regional parties forming government with the Congress supporting it, the former Union Minister said: "I am not ruling out the possibility but it will not be a strong government. Stability will not be there for the government".

He argued that a government would be stable only when it is led by a national party, amid some reports that speculated that the election could throw up a fractured verdict.

"Otherwise, (a third front) government cannot be stable, it has never remained stable; even with strongest leaders like VP Singh or Chandrashekhar. It is a matter of couple of months or one or two years (before collapse of government)", the former Karnataka Chief Minister said.

Amid talk in some quarters that regional parties not aligned with the UPA and NDA may get more seats than the Congress, Mr Moily said the question is who would unite all the regional parties.

"There should be a common factor to join them together; otherwise it will be a disintegrated group", he said.

According to him, regional outfits need a national party to bind them together. "One national party will have to be there to cement the bonding (among regional parties)".

"It will become a compulsion for regional parties to unite together against the BJP", claimed Mr Moily, who had earlier served as the AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

"So, possibility of a good (UPA) government with regional parties is a certainty".

"If the Congress-led UPA does not get majority, he said the party would have to form government (along with other willing parties not part of UPA) for the sake of the nation, to provide a stable government".

"It will be a compulsion (to form government), ultimately...Rahul Gandhi...our ideology sometimes may not agree with such a combination or formation (of government with regional parties) but even then for the sake of the unity of the country, I think Rahul Gandhi will have to agree on this," he said.

"Having known his (Rahul Gandhi's) position and ideology, he is a person...sometimes he may not be willing to compromise on this. But in ultimate analysis, he (Rahul Gandhi) has to be projected as a leader to unite all these regional parties", Mr Moily said.

Mr Moily also talked about the possibility of YSRCP joining hands with the UPA led by the Congress, which has repeatedly expressed commitment to give special category status to Andhra Pradesh in the event of being voted to power, a key demand of the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party.

"They (YSRCP) will join the UPA, or they will support the UPA from outside or they will join the government. It is a possibility. Sometimes, necessity ultimately will be the driving force to unite together", he said.

On efforts of TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front of regional parties, Mr Moily said he has got his own ambition.

"One thing is certain, that he (K Chandrasekhar Rao) has already fallen out from NDA. When he has fallen out from NDA, what is the option left to him? Of course, he is a person who will make very strong bargain for some important positions, that is what he has been telling," he said.

"But his forming a third front is not a possibility. He thinks that a third front can be formed just to have a bargaining power with ensuing government," Mr Moily said.