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West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, who met Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav here on Tuesday evening, said she would be meeting the latter again after her meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Mamata, however, refused to comment on what actually transpired during her meeting with Mulayam, thereby keeping everybody in suspense over her choice for presidential candidate. "I met Mulayam Singhji now. I will meeting Sonia Gandhi tomorrow, then again I will hold talks with Mulayamji," she told media after the meeting. Mamata's meeting with Mulayam, whose party is an outside supporter of UPA and is expected to play a critical role in the Congress's aspirations to have its nominee in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, has further created suspense over the presidential candidate. Banerjee, who arrived here this evening to hold discussions on the presidential candidate with Sonia Gandhi, drove straight to Mulayam's residence on her arrival. "Today, I am going to meet Mulayam ji because he wanted to talk to me. He rang me up yesterday. He is in Delhi . So, I am now going to Mulayamji's house," Banerjee told media here on her arrival. Banerjee further informed that she would be holding discussions with Congress President Sonia Gandhi tomorrow on the presidential election "Tomorrow I have a meeting with Sonia ji on the presidential polls. Soniaji is a party president. For Congress Party members, it is the party's prerogative. It is not my prerogative," she said. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi might want to get the views of Mamata on former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee as a probable presidential candidate. A fresh round of consultations on the issue of selection of a presidential nominee has begun in the UPA, after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) authorised Sonia Gandhi to decide on the candidates for the coming presidential and vice presidential elections. Gandhi has so far held discussions with DMK chief Karunanidhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and RLD chief Ajit Singh on the presidential candidate. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is believed by many to be the front-runner among those vying to be the next President of India. The cancellation of visit to Afghanistan by Mukherjee has fuelled speculation that the UPA would come up with his name for the presidential candidate soon. Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath earlier today announced the schedule for the 14th indirect presidential election to elect the 13th President of India. Addressing a press conference here this afternoon, Sampath said the notification for the presidential poll would be announced on June 16. He further declared that June 30 would be the last day for the filing of the nomination by candidates for the presidential election. Sampath said that July 2 has been fixed as the day for scrutiny of all nominations, while July 4 would be the last date for candidates to withdraw their nominations. The presidential poll, he said, would take place on July 19, and the result would be declared on July 22. He said the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, V.K.Agnihotri, would be the returning officer of the presidential poll. President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will leave office on July 24.

Presidential polls: Mamata to meet Mulayam again