New permutations and combinations are emerging in the presidential election, to be held next month. While the NDA appears set to “adopt” P.A. Sangma after the latter resigned from the NCP on Wednesday, the JD(U) and Shiv Sena are moving closer to the Congress-led UPA. The Left parties cannot support a BJP-backed candidate ideologically or politically.
Mr Sangma, a former Lok Sabha Speaker, was the candidate of the BJD and the AIADMK in this election. But the BJP appears to be making up its mind to “adopt” him with the calculation that this will bring chief ministers Naveen Patnaik and Jayalalithaa closer to NDA once again.
But BJP strategists have miscalculated. While the BJP’s oldest ally, the Shiv Sena, has come out in support of UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee, the JD(U) may make a formal announcement in this regard any time.
Numerically, Mr Mukherjee is comfortable as he is getting support not only from the UPA allies, barring the Trinamul Congress, but from other parties as well. In fact, Mr Mukherjee has reached out to CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat for support on the eve of the Left meeting on the presidential poll, but he did not get any commitment. The Left parties account for a 51,000 vote value in an electoral college of 10.98 lakh vote value.
The Trinamul has yet to decide whether to back Mr Sangma, and thereby support the BJP, which may go back to a hard Hindutva line if Gujarat CM Narendra Modi becomes its PM candidate.
Meanwhile, Mr Sangma resigned from the NCP on the eve of the office-bearers’ meeting of the party here. Mr Sangma said he had received “promises of support from senior leaders of non-Congress parties, including those in the NDA”.