NDA should rethink on fielding candidate for prez polls: Moily

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Union minister Veerapa Moily on Sunday said the opposition NDA should rethink about its decision to field P.A. Sangma against UPA's candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential poll.

"The National Democratic Alliance should rethink its decision and not mix up politics with presidential election," the Corporate Affairs Minister said on the sidelines of a function here, 33 km from Bengaluru.

Moily said it was not the time for the NDA to demonstrate its presence as an Opposition.

"NDA thinks it is not going to win and it is fielding a candidate to demonstrate its presence," he added.

By putting up a candidate, Moily said, he did not think the NDA is scoring a point as a political alliance.

The Opposition alliance has to think about the country and it would soon realise the mistake done by it in politicising the issue, he said.

"Presidential election is a national, not party issue and therefore all parties should rethink," the Minister said.
Moily said there is a consensus emerging on the candidature of UPA's nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

"It is our national duty to ensure that he is elected," he said.

He claimed Mukherjee would definitely secure more than 70 per cent votes to win the presidential poll.

Asked whether the Congress has identified a suitable replacement for Mukherjee in the event of his becoming the President, Moily said it was left to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take an appropriate decision on the matter.