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Congress rejects TMC-SP choices, says Manmohan Singh will remain PM till 2014 | Rejecting the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-Samajwadi Party (SP) choices
for the President's post, Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi on Thursday
said that Manmohan Singh will remain Prime Minister till 2014. "Manmohan Singh
will stay prime minister till 2014. We cannot afford to spare Manmohan Singh,"
Dwivedi told media here. Dwivedi also said that the names of former Lok Sabha
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and former President APJ Abdul Kalam as proposed by
Mamata and Mulayam were not acceptable to the Congress. He further said that Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari were the party's preferred
choices and would continue to remain so. Lashing out at TMC chief Mamata Banerjee,
Dwivedi said: "Names come up during discussions and there is sanctity to close
door talks. Mamata should not have announced the details of the meeting in public."
Banerjee and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav have announced the names of Manmohan
Singh, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Somnath Chatterjee as their preferred choices for
the July 19 presidential poll. "Our first choice for president is APJ Abdul Kalam,
the second choice is PM Manmohan Singh and third choice is Somnath Chatterjee,"
said Mulayam after meeting Mamata. The latest developments appear to be a major
blow for the ruling Congress Party, as both Mamata and Mulayam have rejected the
names of Mukherjee and Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari. Mamata, who met Sonia
Gandhi on Wednesday, remains non-committal over the UPA chairperson's suggestion,
saying she would revert on the issue after discussing it with her Trinamool Congress
colleagues. "I had a detailed discussion with her. Sonia Gandhi told that Pranab
Mukherjee is first choice for President and the second choice is (Vice-President)
Hamid Ansari," she told media. Banerjee also said that she had told Gandhi that
she would go back and discuss with her Trinamool Congress colleagues and revert
on the issue. Trinamool Congress, with 19 members in the Lok Sabha, is the largest
constituent of UPA after the Congress. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party,
which has 22 members in the Lok Sabha, is an outside supporter of the ruling alliance.
A fresh round of consultations on the issue of selection of a presidential nominee
is taking place in the UPA, after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) authorised
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.
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