New Delhi:
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has denied that he is emerging as the first choice of the Congress and its allies for June's election for the President of India.
"It is speculative. I don't want to comment on it," he told reporters on way to Manila where he will be attending the 45th Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank's Board of Governors.
Mr Mukherjee's party, the Congress, has shortlisted him and vice-president Hamid Ansari as the candidate of the ruling UPA coalition, though Congress President Sonia Gandhi said yesterday that no names have been finalised yet. Her statement followed a controversy created by her party's spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury who unwittingly seemed to have suggested that Mr Mukherjee was too valuable for his party to spare. "It will never be easy to leave Pranab da. He is such a valuable person for us in the party...He is too involved and knows politics so well," she said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee referred to that remark a few hours later, telling reporters that Mr Mukherjee seemed to have been dropped by the Congress as an option.
Ms Banerjee, who met with Mrs Gandhi last evening, is the second-largest member of the UPA after the Congress, and has so far not said on record who she will support. Sources say she has agreed to go along with whoever the UPA selects, though her decision could be affected by whether the central government agrees to a moratorium or suspension of interest payments worth thousands of crores that West Bengal owes on account of loans. Amid reports of a possible quid pro quo over this, Ms Banerjee will meet the Prime Minister today. She said yesterday that it was important to field a candidate who evokes consensus, and that her stand could be influenced by Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party provides external support to the UPA.
While several other leaders of his party have reportedly said they would prefer a Muslim candidate for President, Mr Yadav today cleared the air saying, "It does not matter whether the presidential candidate is from minority community, backward or scheduled caste.
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.
The Congress has already consulted with other key allies Sharad Pawar and M Karunanidhi about its presidential candidates. Both reportedly did not object to Mr Ansari or to Mr Mukherjee. Today, Mr Pawar said no name had been discussed with him so far. On Mr Yadav's comments that seem to favour the Finance Minister, Mr Pawar said, "That is Mulayam Singh's opinion."