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Presidential poll: Mukherjee, Antony meet Sonia | A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
put the Congress in a fix by rejecting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the
first choice candidate for president, Mukherjee and Defence Minister A.K. Antony
met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi here today. The Congress Core Committee is expected
to meet this evening to take a final call on who will be the party's presidential
candidate. Banerjee and Mulayam have announced the names of Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former Lok Sabha speaker 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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