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Labour's Ed Balls and Peter Hain have backed tactical voting in marginal seats to "keep the Tories out".Schools Secretary Ed Balls told the New Statesman that he always wanted Labour to win but recognised there was "an issue" in Lib Dem/Tory marginals.
But Gordon Brown told GMTV he did not back tactical voting and wanted people to "vote Labour" .
The Lib Dems called it "desperate". David Cameron said it showed voting Lib Dem vote could keep Mr Brown as PM.
In other election developments on Tuesday:
Gordon Brown tells GMTV he willA Labour parliamentary candidate tells his local newspaperMr Brown is the "worst prime minister we have ever had"Mr Brown, Mr Cameron and Nick CleggMr Cameron's- flights had been grounded due to volcanic ash Polls continue to point towards a hung parliament - or a small Conservative majority - and there has been increasing talk of tactical voting, when people vote not for the party they prefer, but for another in order to keep out a more disliked rival.
The Labour-supporting Mirror newspaper has devoted its front page to a tactical voting guide aimed at "stopping" a Conservative win.
Official Labour policy is to support its candidate in every seat they are fighting - Mr Balls and Mr Hain are both urging non-Labour voters to back their party in Conservative-Labour marginals.
'An issue'
Mr Balls, who is facing a Conservative challenge in the Morley and Outwood constituency, stopped short of saying Labour voters should vote Lib Dem in some areas.
But he told the New Statesman: "I always want the Labour candidate to win, but I recognise there's an issue in places like North Norfolk, where my family live, where Norman Lamb (Lib Dem) is fighting the Tories, who are in second place. And I want to keep the Tories out," he said.
In Tory-Labour marginals, he urged Lib Dem supporters to "bite their lip" and vote Labour.
Later he told journalists that he always wanted Labour candidates to win, but realistically he was not going to criticise people who make their own judgements to keep the Conservatives out including in Norfolk North.
Meanwhile Welsh Secretary Mr Hain told the Independent people should "vote with their heads, not their hearts".
And he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I want every Labour candidate to win but many are not going to be in a position to win.
"I think it's important for people to act intelligently in this election."
'Completely deluded'
In an interview with GMTV, Gordon Brown was asked if he would urge people to vote tactically, but said: "No, because I want people to vote Labour and I want a majority Labour government."
He was also asked if Labour does badly, it meant people were turning their backs on the party, or on him.
Mr Brown replied: "I'll have to take responsibility, and I will take full responsibility if anything happens, but I still think there are thousands of people who've still to make up their minds."
Asked if he would stand down as Labour leader, if it meant the party could stay in power in the event of a hung parliament, he said: "Well, I don't think it'll work that way but if I couldn't make a difference anymore I would go off and do something else."
'Worst prime minister'
Meanwhile Labour's parliamentary candidate for North West Norfolk Manish Sood has told his local newspaper Mr Brown "has been the worst prime minister we have had in this country".
Campaigning in north London, Mr Cameron told reporters: "What seems to be happening this morning is senior Labour politicians are saying that if you want to keep Gordon Brown in Downing Street you vote Lib Dem.
"That backs up what we have always said - if you want on Friday a new government that rolls up its sleeves, starts to clear up the mess then you need to vote Conservative on Thursday."
His colleague Liam Fox told the BBC the tactical voting call "smacks of political bankruptcy... the sort of old politics that people hate".
And the Lib Dems described the calls for tactical voting as "desperate" - Leader Nick Clegg has said the election has become a "two-horse race" between his party and the Tories.
In an interview with the Financial Times, which announced on Tuesday it was backing the Conservatives, Mr Clegg suggested that a commitment to electoral reform would not be a "pre-condition" for co-operation in a hung parliament.
He told GMTV he had never talked about "preconditions" for talks but wanted a "new political system" and suggested the newspaper's headline "Clegg open to talks with Cameron" was "over excitable".
He has said electoral reform was "an absolute precondition for renewal in this country" but told the programme: "I have never talked about preconditions for talks. I have always talked about the things I want to fight for, the changes I want to fight for."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.