Prez polls: Mamata, SP boil the race
In a fresh twist to the race for Raisina Hill, the Mamata-Mulayam duo sprang a surprise on Wednesday by proposing the names of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh and Somnath Chatterjee as their three choices.
This is likely to kick off a fresh exercise within the Congress, its allies and the Opposition to zero in on candidates.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will meet Cong-ress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
Trinamul chief Mam-ata Banerjee and Sama-jwadi Party boss Mulay-am Singh Yadav have already started talking to other UPA allies and the Opposition.
The BJP’s Ananth Kumar, adopting a wait-and-watch policy, said: “Let the Congress come out with its view first. We will discuss this at the NDA meeting.”
Mr Pawar said: “In light of new developments, we have to talk to all for a consensus candidate.”
The Congress has so far refused to react to the Trinamul-SP proposal, while the Left, besides rejecting Somn-ath Chatterjee, has indicated it will take stock.
Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam could well emerge as the strongest candidate.
He is the only one acceptable to all Opposition parties and some UPA allies, including SP and TMC.
The DMK and AIADMK are unlikely to oppose a candidate from Tamil Nadu. If there is a consensus, the Congress too might find it hard to oppose him.
Speculation is rife that if Manmohan Singh is pushed to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Congress leadership might consider bringing in finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as Prime Minister or deputy prime minister for the next two years.
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