Sonia Gandhi, who called on president KR Narayanan after a Congress Working Committee meeting in the wake of CPI (M) Politburo's assessment that Congress alone could take the initiative to provide a stable Government, conveyed to him her party's opposition to supporting "any Third or Fourth Front Government".

"We are not going to support any Third or Fourth Front Government," she told reporters after the meeting. A visibly unhappy Sonia Gandhi said, "Today I told the President that I tried my best (to form a Government) but I have not been able to convince the people who said they will support us."

While many parties have been sincere in their support, others have "put personal interests before the country," she said in an obvious reference to SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Congress presidentsaid, "We are not supporting a coalition Government." Asked if the Congress was prepared for a mid-term poll, she said, "It is for the President to decide whatever is best for the country and we will abide by that. Sonia Gandhi declined to identify the parties which, she said, have put personal interests above national interests.