BJP open to non-Congress candidate idea
On whether a non-Congress candidate, like former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, would be acceptable as a presidential candidate, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj (BJP) said the BJP was open to the idea. “We can have an understanding with non-Congress parties where we support their presidential candidate and they support our vice-presidential candidate,” she said, adding, “We will contest to win. We will work out the arithmetic.”
However, Ms Swaraj did not reveal whom the BJP-led NDA would field for President and vice-president in case of a contest. Since the NDA does not have the numbers to get its President into Rashtrapati Bhavan, the alliance is looking at the possibility of winning the vice-presidential election.
Recently, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley (BJP) had called on AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in Chennai to discuss the presidential election.
The RJD pitched for Mr Hamid Ansari as the next President, with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav saying, “He (Ansari) is the natural claimant to the highest post... He should be promoted from vice-president to President.”
Meanwhile, Mr Pranab Mukherjee parried questions on whether he was in the race for President. “Oh my goodness... Oh my goodness..,” a smiling Mr Mukherjee told reporters outside Parliament House when asked about being projected as a consensus choice for President. “Don’t indulge in any speculation,” he said when pressed again for his version amid reports that his name was discussed during Mr Antony’s meeting with Mr Karunanidhi in Chennai on Sunday.
The Congress said it was for the “widest possible consensus” and “maximum consultations” on the presidential candidate issue while disfavouring any speculation about names.
Party spokesperson Manish Tewari ducked queries on whether the Congress found itself averse to the idea of an “apolitical” President, a demand raised by various parties. “There is no question of apolitical or ‘B-political’ or non-political President. Our choice, like everybody’s choice, will be subscribed by the constitutional provisions required for the election of a President. Congress is always for a President that fits the bill as per the provisions dealing with the election of a President,” Mr Tewari said.
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