MOSCOW - Opposition parties and supporters of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's presidential bid staged rival rallies Saturday as they jockeyed for position ahead of the March 4 vote.

A pro-Putin rally held in western Moscow attracted some 138,000 participants while an opposition rally near the Kremlin gathered about 36,000 people, police said.

Organizers of the opposition rally, however, claimed that more than 120,000 people participated.p   The pro-Putin rally urged opposition organizers not to attempt a Color Revolution in Russia. The opposition in turn demanded "fairness" in the upcoming election.

Putin on Friday thanked the supporters who held rallies for his presidential bid, saying "I share their views."

A high school teacher who only gave his name as Boris told Xinhua that Russians don't want a repeat of the trouble that enveloped the country in the 1990s.

"We just want a stability in the country but not another chaos like the one in the 1990s. I love my country and hope she could become stronger but not divided by 'orange' or 'pink' revolutions, " Boris said.

The opposition on Saturday rallied for the third time in Moscow since December's parliamentary elections, which they claim was tainted by vote fraud that favored Putin's ruling United Russia party.

Business woman Natalia Konashenova told Xinhua that protesters were not unpatriotic but just wanted honest elections and an end to Putin's days in office.