Congress not confident of returning to power: BJP

"For a national party, prior to an election year to start a review saying they may not be able to come back to power on its own, is very good for the opposition party," BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Her comments come as Congress held its strategy meet at Jaipur.

"It was one thing for any party to say whether they can come back to power, or they won't, or they are looking for partners, but for a party which has claimed they have given excellent growth, being in power today and going for an election as incumbent government, to say it might be difficult, I think its more of admission of failure, rather than a realistic assessment of what coalition politics is moving towards," Sitharaman said.

As the Congress begin its three day strategy meet or 'Chintan Shivir' in Jaipur, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was quoted as saying by news channel CNN-IBN that the party may not be able to come back to power on its own in next general election.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, talking to reporters Friday, also said: "We are here to see we get the numbers and get our government in power".

Sitharaman however slammed the Congress, saying they did not know how to handle coalitions.

"Congress does not know how to treat their allies. Their alliance partners are coming out in the open and complaining against their decisions," Sitharaman said.

"They may probably be be better off by looking at the alliance partners of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government. They (the Congress) are not able to keep their present alliance partners happy," she said.

The Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is on a weak foot since key ally Trinamool Congress, with 19 Lok Sabha members, walked out. It is presently surviving on outside support of Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party which have 22 and 21 Lok Sabha members respectively.

Sitharaman also said that there was no chance for Congress to win the next Lok Sabha polls as the mood in the country was totally "anti-Congress".