I told Sonia Gandhi, no names at this stage: Sharad Pawar on presidential polls

Mumbai: Even as Pranab Mukherjee's name is doing the rounds as the Congress candidate for presidency, the big question is: Will key allies back Congress?

In an indication that things are not entirely smooth for the ruling UPA alliance, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has said that during his meeting with Sonia Gandhi last month, he told her that no names should be discussed as yet and that the focus should be on building consensus among the parties.

"Basically, we had a discussion with Congress president but no names were suggested. It was my advice that no names should be discussed at this stage. Our efforts are to first talk to other parties, take them into confidence, take them with us and then discuss names and take a final view," he said yesterday.

Mr Pawar was speaking to reporters in Mumbai and was replying to a question on Pranab Mukherjee being the frontrunner.

"I cannot answer ifs and buts on this issue," the Union Agriculture Minister said when asked about possible candidates in the race.

However, the Congress' bid to garner support for its presidential candidate got a boost yesterday after the DMK agreed to back Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the post.

"If he is the candidate of the UPA coalition, the DMK will not hesitate to back his candidature. If the majority opinion is that, then DMK will also subscribe to it," DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in Chennai yesterday. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, meanwhile, said, "No one has approached us for our support as yet."

However, the Trinamool Congress, an unpredictable ally, refused to give the Congress the reassurances it was hoping for. After a meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that "all options are open" when it comes to deciding who she will support as a candidate for the election for President of India.

Mamata Banerjee was in the national capital for the meeting of the chief ministers over the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre or NCTC. She also emphasised that she remains stridently opposed to the NCTC, a new agency blueprinted by the government that has upset several chief ministers like her.

Ms Banerjee's meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh was targeted at winning a moratorium on Rs 22 thousand crore that West Bengal owes the Centre every year as interest on loans granted through the years. How the government handles the bailout package for West Bengal could influence Ms Banerjee's support for a candidate selected by the Congress for the elections for President, which will be held in June.

Mr Mukherjee appears to be the preferred choice of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the head of the Samajawadi Party, which provides external support to the UPA. The Finance Minister, however, denied that he is emerging as the first choice of the Congress and its allies, calling it "speculative". The Congress has shortlisted him and Vice-President Hamid Ansari as the candidate of the ruling UPA coalition, though Congress President Sonia Gandhi has said that no names have been finalised yet.

In the last few days, the Congress, which leads the UPA, has been carefully consulting its different allies to ensure they will back its presidential candidate. Apart from the NCP and the DMK, a bonus for the Congress is that the Left has also said that both options seem acceptable.

That makes life very tough for the BJP, which wanted to gather support among non-UPA parties for another presidential candidate. The election for President is a significant battle ahead of the general elections in 2014, and offers the BJP a chance to take on the Congress. But even its key ally, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has indicated that his party would be in favour of supporting a candidate who is accepted by most parties.

The President is selected by a system of proportional representation. The votes of MPs are put at par with those of elected members in different state legislatures. This gives considerable say to regional parties who have delivered impressive results in recent elections like Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party.