New Delhi:
Will it be Pranab Mukherjee after all? Sources say the Congress is still undecided on whether it should send its chief trouble shooter, Finance Minister and Leader in the Lok Sabha to the Rashtraptai Bhawan next month. It is a dilemma that seemed unsolved when a meeting between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and important UPA ally Mamata Banerjee ended.
Ms Banerjee emerged from the meeting to say Mrs Gandhi had set before her two names that had emerged in her talks with other allies - Pranab Mukherjee as the first choice and Hamid Ansari as the second. Ms Banerjee said she would now decide on whom the Trinamool would like to back.
She is now headed to meet Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party to discuss the issue. They met yesterday too and have indicated that the two crucial regional parties are aligned. Mr Yadav said today, "I will discuss with Mamata Banerjee before deciding our choice of presidential candidate." Mr Yadav though is said to support Mr Mukherjee's candidacy; he has said he would like a politician and not a former bureaucrat as the next President. The support of both parties is important for the Congress - Mulayam Singh Yadav, who supports the UPA from outside, has six per cent vital votes in the electoral college that elects the President. Ms Banerjee is no push-over either with her 4.37 per cent votes.
It was an aggressive Mamata Banerjee who drove into Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence sitting in the front seat of her small Maruti car today for a half-hour meeting with Mrs Gandhi. Sources say Ms Banerjee's support for the Congress' candidate is still not in the bag and that she is not very keen on Mr Mukherjee, who had seemed a front runner so far, as the President. She has her own dilemma; despite her reservations, politically she cannot be seen to stop a leader from Bengal getting the top post.
Other allies of the Congress like M Karunanidhi, Sharad Pawar and Ajit Singh too are said to want a strong President and see Mr Mukherjee in that role. But the Congress President, who has so far not named anyone and her decision might be shared only after the Prime Minister returns from a foreign tour on June 23.
This is how the numbers stack up if there is a contest for the Presidential elections:
If the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's BSP support the UPA, the ruling combine will get 5,71,644 votes in its kitty. That will ensure that the UPA will have 52 per cent, a majority, of the overall votes. But if Ms Banerjee decides to go against the UPA candidate, UPA's vote share will drop to 5,25,719 votes at 48 per cent, shy of a majority.
The presidential election places at par the votes of all MPs with those of all elected members of state legislatures - so regional parties count for a lot. The electoral college for the presidential poll is 4896, constituting 776 Members of Parliament and 4120 Members of Legislative Assemblies, including those of Delhi and Puducherry. The total value of votes is 10,98,882 with that of MLAs being 5,49,474 and that of MPs being 5,49,408. Nominated members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state Assemblies are not entitled to vote.