Pranab seeks support of all parties ahead of election

IANS/Kolkata

Finance Minister and presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee waves as he comes out of Belur Math, the main monastery of Ramakrishna order founded by Sri Swami Vivekananda in 1897 on the banks of Hoogly river, about 9km from Kolkata yesterday. He offered prayers at the math

In a fresh appeal apparently aimed at the Trinamool Congress, presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee yesterday urged all political parties to vote for him.“I am a nominated candidate of the UPA (the ruling United Progressive Alliance) and other parties. I want everybody’s support and co-operation,” the federal finance minister told reporters outside his residence here.“Those who have already decided their stand will vote according to the decision of their respective parties,” Mukherjee said.“To those parties who have not yet taken a decision, I would appeal to them to support the candidate of the UPA in unanimity with the UPA and those outside who have extended support,” he said.The Trinamool Congress, the second largest constituent of UPA, is yet to announce its stand on the presidential choice after its preferred candidate, former president A P J Abdul Kalam, opted out. However, Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has so far firmly opposed Mukherjee’s bid for the country’s presidency.On Saturday night, Mukherjee said there was no scope for meeting Banerjee now though he would speak to her on the presidential polls if the need arose.“When it will be necessary, I will definitely talk to her,” Mukherjee said.Mukherjee is pitted against former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma, who has the backing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) besides the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal.However, the Janata Dal-United, a key BJP ally, has expressed its support for Mukherjee.The JD-U chose to break ranks with the NDA as the opposition alliance did not gain politically by fielding Bhairon Singh Shekhawat against Congress candidate Pratibha Patil in the 2007 presidential election, party chief and NDA convener Sharad Yadav said.“The 2007 presidential contest was a loss to the NDA...we did not gain politically from it,” Yadav said.After the NDA fielded BJP stalwart Shekhawat as its candidate, lesser-known Pratibha Patil, the UPA nominee, won the 2007 contest and created history by becoming the first woman president of the country.Yadav said the JD-U’s decision to support Mukherjee was taken keeping in mind the 2007 result, and denied there was any division in the alliance over the presidential poll.“There is no division in the NDA...we decided to support Mukherjee as we did not want a contest for the constitutional post,” Yadav said.“We just nicely agreed to disagree with the BJP,” he said in an interview.However, he refused to comment on the recent rift between senior JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over who should be the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections.Yadav, who represents Bihar’s Madhepura constituency in the Lok Sabha, said his party’s support to Mukherjee is due to the “complex” political realities in the country.“India is a big and diverse country...there are many contradictions in politics,” he said.Yadav said the entire NDA would have supported Kalam for a second term had the former president not backed out of the race.“The NDA would have supported Kalam but he backed out,” Yadav said.He said the 2014 Lok Sabha polls are likely to throw up a big challenge before the country, and said the need of a “sensible person” like Mukherjee will be felt strongly in the Rashtrapati Bhavan then.But he said it was too early to comment on a possible grouping of the regional parties at the Centre.Yadav said the finance minister’s shift to the Raisina Hill, where the presidential palace is located, was certain against Sangma. However he said it would be more a victory of Mukherjee than that of the UPA.“Pranab is winning, not the UPA,” Yadav said, adding he would continue to oppose the Congress.