Patna:
For once it is not the Congress, but the BJP rushing to smoothen the ruffled feathers of an ally. After reports of rift between the party and its partner the JD(U) over who to back in the election for President of India, two senior leaders - LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari - have stepped in to do damage control .
While Mr Advani has reportedly asked for a meeting of the NDA to iron differences out, Mr Gadkari , who is the party president, has assured all NDA allies that his party will consult them before taking a final call on their candidate for President.
"We will consult all NDA allies and other small parties before we give a name for presidential candidate. I will talk to Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav (of the JD(U)) myself," Mr Gadkari said. He added that his party will give out a final decision on its choice only after the NDA meeting.
Mr Gadkari and Mr Advani were forced to intervene after JD(U) leaders took umbrage at what they call BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's "unilateral" declaration earlier this week that the BJP will not support any candidate put forth by the Congress. Sources close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) say that he is particularly upset at Ms Swaraj saying that her party will not support Hamid Ansari, currently Vice-President of the country, because he lacks the stature to provoke political consensus as a candidate.
Mr Kumar has reportedly told the BJP that it must clarify that Ms Swaraj's remarks were personal and that she was not speaking on behalf of her party.
Sources close to Mr Kumar say that the Chief Minister is of the opinion that if the BJP endorses Ms Swaraj's view, then a planned meeting with allies to discuss the NDA's candidate for president is "virtually redundant."
Mr Advani, sources say, met senior leader of the JD(U) and the convenor of the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) Sharad Yadav earlier this morning and asked him to call a meeting of all partner parties to discuss who to back for President. Mr Yadav had told NDTV yesterday that his party had not been consulted by the BJP on the issue.
Nitish Kumar has reportedly said that if the BJP agrees with Ms Swaraj on Mr Ansari, then allies like his party are free to independently decide who to support in the election.
But sources in the JD(U) deny reports that Mr Kumar phoned Mr Ansari yesterday to make it clear that he does not share Ms Swaraj's opinion.
Mr Kumar's party is the BJP's biggest partner in the NDA coalition with a significant 42,000 votes in the electoral college. His stand on the presidential candidate reflects a divide within the NDA ahead of the Presidential election in June. The NDA has about 28 per cent vote in the electoral college that elects the President. But with even the UPA short of a majority, the BJP wants to make a contest of the Presidential poll ahead of the general elections in 2014. So it has said it will not support a Congress candidate and will in fact talk to even UPA allies like the Trinamool Congress and the NCP to try and field a joint candidate.
The Congress is trying to build consensus within its own allies for either Mr Ansari or Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is arriving in Delhi this evening and is expected to meet the Congress leadership over the next two days to discuss the Presidential elections.
The Left parties are holding their own consultations. A top Left leader told NDTV yesterday that they are willing to support the Finance Minister's candidature. He added that they will "think about" whether to support Mr Ansari.
The President is selected by a system of proportional representation, where the votes of MLAs or members of state assemblies equal those cast by MPs.