New Delhi:
Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma today met Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik in New Delhi today and thanked him for backing his candidature for President.
Mr Sangma, who is with the NCP, has demanded that the President must be from the Scheduled Tribes. He has pushed this case with leaders of almost all parties.
Besides Mr Patnaik's BJD, Mr Sangma, so far, also enjoys the support of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. However, it is still not clear whether his own party, the NCP, will support his bid.
After meeting Mr Patnaik in the Capital today, Mr Sangma said he hoped to garner the support of all parties. "We hope that other political parties including those in the UPA and the NDA will respond to the call of the tribal people and support us in the coming Presidential elections," he said.
Mr Sangma was accompanied by many other tribal leaders. "We belong from different political parties but we are fighting a common cause of projecting a tribal as a presidential candidate. We have sent appeals to all political parties and we are so happy, that the honourable Chief Minister of Odisha, Mr. Navin Patnaik Ji, was the first to respond to our call along with the honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Naidu, Madam Jayalalitha".
"We are here to salute these two great leaders and full-heartedly thank them for the love they have expressed for the tribal people of India," he added.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has appealed to all parties to "rise above political differences" and back the leader from the tribal community. She has personally held talks with BJP leader LK Advani, CPM leader Prakash Karat, CPI leader AB Bardhan, TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in a bid to garner support for Mr Sangma.
Last week, Mr Sangma said his party chief Sharad Pawar told him at a meeting that since his party is a part of the UPA government, its stand on the issue would be consistent with it.
Mr Pawar's party is a key ally of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre since May 2004. The two parties also share power in Maharashtra since 2009. Mr Pawar had recently met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been holding consultations with UPA constituents and allies over the presidential election.
Mr Sangma's addition to list of names under consideration for the Presidential polls comes at a time when both Congress and BJP are trying to rally support from their allies and evolve a consensus on a candidate.
The elections will be held in July, but no dates have been announced yet.
The Congress had reportedly shortlisted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee 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 two weeks, the Congress, which leads the UPA, has been carefully consulting its different allies to ensure they will back its 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. The BJP has said it will not support a Congress-backed candidate. 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 Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
Mr Sangma, who is with the NCP, has demanded that the President must be from the Scheduled Tribes. He has pushed this case with leaders of almost all parties.
Besides Mr Patnaik's BJD, Mr Sangma, so far, also enjoys the support of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. However, it is still not clear whether his own party, the NCP, will support his bid.
After meeting Mr Patnaik in the Capital today, Mr Sangma said he hoped to garner the support of all parties. "We hope that other political parties including those in the UPA and the NDA will respond to the call of the tribal people and support us in the coming Presidential elections," he said.
Mr Sangma was accompanied by many other tribal leaders. "We belong from different political parties but we are fighting a common cause of projecting a tribal as a presidential candidate. We have sent appeals to all political parties and we are so happy, that the honourable Chief Minister of Odisha, Mr. Navin Patnaik Ji, was the first to respond to our call along with the honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Naidu, Madam Jayalalitha".
"We are here to salute these two great leaders and full-heartedly thank them for the love they have expressed for the tribal people of India," he added.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has appealed to all parties to "rise above political differences" and back the leader from the tribal community. She has personally held talks with BJP leader LK Advani, CPM leader Prakash Karat, CPI leader AB Bardhan, TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in a bid to garner support for Mr Sangma.
Last week, Mr Sangma said his party chief Sharad Pawar told him at a meeting that since his party is a part of the UPA government, its stand on the issue would be consistent with it.
Mr Pawar's party is a key ally of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre since May 2004. The two parties also share power in Maharashtra since 2009. Mr Pawar had recently met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been holding consultations with UPA constituents and allies over the presidential election.
Mr Sangma's addition to list of names under consideration for the Presidential polls comes at a time when both Congress and BJP are trying to rally support from their allies and evolve a consensus on a candidate.
The elections will be held in July, but no dates have been announced yet.
The Congress had reportedly shortlisted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee 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 two weeks, the Congress, which leads the UPA, has been carefully consulting its different allies to ensure they will back its 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. The BJP has said it will not support a Congress-backed candidate. 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 Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
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