[1]Congress-led UPA’s presidential nominee Mr Pranab Mukherjee secured the support of yet another party with the Janata Dal (S) announcing its support for him on Thursday.
Janata Dal (S) supremo H. D. Deve Gowda told media persons here that he was hopeful of a similar decision by the Left parties. He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought the support of members of Dal (S) immediately after the core committee announced the candidature of Mr Mukherjee, followed by a call from the Union finance minister himself two days ago. “I told the Prime Minister that I will stand by the UPA candidate. The finance minister (Mr Mukherjee), who is going to be the next President of India, asked me to spell out our stand. I told him that I will call the media today and make an announcement. Since my party leader is a minister in Kerala, I have asked him to inform the Left parties about the stand of our party,” he added.
The Dal (S) has three members in Lok Sabha, 26 legislators in Karnataka and four in Kerala respectively. Mr Deve Gowda said it was unfortunate that some political parties questioned his secular credentials after his son H.D. Kumaraswamy joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition government in Karnataka in February 2006. Some even went to the extent of alleging that he hatched a conspiracy to install his son as the Chief Minister, he said adding that he would soon throw light on the circumstances that forced Mr Kumaraswamy to forge an alliance with the BJP.
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