With the presidential race hotting up, the Trinamul Congress Thursday indicated support for finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as its chief Mamata Banerjee met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue. A senior Trinamul leader said: “Mamata has no objection to Pranab Mukherjee, but it’s for the Congress to decide.”
Sources indicated Ms Banerjee, who met Samajwadi boss Mulayam Singh Yadav Thursday evening, is trying to bargain for a vice-president of “their choice”. It is learnt she is trying to rally parties supporting the UPA to put up a vice-president of their choosing in return for backing the Congress’ presidential nominee. Ms Banerjee is likely to meet Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalaithaa on Friday.
Mrs Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Parliament House, where Mr Mukherjee was also present. Asked about the “confusion” over presidential names, the Congress president said: “There is no confusion. Be patient, there’s still time.”
It is learnt the BJP too is “not averse” to Mr Mukherjee as President. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj was reportedly pulled up by top BJP leaders for “raking up an unnecessary controversy” on the matter. Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said his party has “no objection” to Mr Mukherjee’s name. The CPI, rejecting former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s candidature, also pushed for a “consensus candidate”.
The JD(U) said it has “no objection” to either Mr Mukherjee or vice-president Hamid Ansari for Rashtrapati Bhavan. JD(U) spokesman Shivanand Tiwari said: “Both are good names. Pranab Mukherjee is the most experienced politician.”
Earlier on Thursday, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury created a flutter when she suddenly said Mr Mukhjeree was “highly valuable to the party”, giving people the impression that he might be out of the reckoning for the presidency. But in immediate damage control, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi clarified that the “consultation process is on. No names have been finalised”.
Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, meanwhile, said the President should be “a political person”, but refused to elaborate.