Addressing a press conference, Scindia said the Congress, being the opposition party, could not be expected to support the government, particularly when its handling of the economy, foreign affairs, and the armed forces had been so pathetic.

The government had been paralysed, not by the Congress, but by the contradictions between the BJP and its allies, between the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits, and the ``cold war'' between two factions within the BJP. ``The Prime Minister has had to postpone cabinet expansion five times,'' he alleged.

Similarly, the danger to the Vajpayee Government was from within, not from the Congress, which was not interested in toppling it by defections, Scindia said. Already, the government was shaky and would fall before long, he said, adding that the Congress Working Committee would then take ``the appropriate decision''.

Asked whether the Congress would form an alternative government or prefer mid-term elections, Scindia said the Congress could consider forming a government if there were guarantees of stability. The Congress alone could provide a stable government, as it had done in 1991, he said.

Stating that the Congress was unhappy over the situation in Bihar under the Rabri Devi Government, Scindia said the party would, in future, take an independent line in the state. There was no question of withdrawal of support to the RJD government, as the Congress had never supported it, he said.

The Congress had only opposed imposition of President's rule because it was against misuse of Article 356, Scindia said, and expressed hope that the RJD leaders would ``listen to their conscience'' and change the chief minister, as the Congress had done in Orissa.

He said that there was no change in the Congress decision, taken at the Panchmarhi conclave, that the party would never be a minority partner in any state. ``We would have been running a government in Gujarat now, had we not propped up others,'' he remarked.

Scindia, who is visiting Gujarat for the first time since he was given charge of the state, ruled out replacement of PCC president C.D. Patel, saying the party was doing well under his leadership. It had recently won one assembly by-election and increased its vote in another.

The party could devise some system to improve its functioning, but there was no question of dilution of the PCC chief's authority, Scindia said in reply to a question whether a committee of senior leaders was being formed to eliminate bickerings.

He said the Congress in Gujarat would continue organising ``democratic agitations'' against the Keshubhai government's failure to protect minorities and maintain law and order which, in turn, had affected industrial development of the state.

Scindia said Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh should sort out their differences over the Narmada project. He refused comment on the alleged attack on Gujarat government employees posted in Madhya Pradesh for resettlement of project affected people, saying he did not have all details.