With two months left for presidential elections, Congress seems to leave no stone unturned to build consensus for the presidential nominee. Defence Minister AK Antony met DMK chief and UPA ally M Karunanidhi on Sunday to build consensus with the southern ally.
The meeting assumes great significance as few days back there have been reports of some UPA alliance partners like Samajwadi Party and NCP pitching for non political person as the nominee for the president’s post.
Earlier this week, Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is understood to have urged her on the need for a consensus on the new president.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, an ally of the ruling UPA government, also had said that he wants a non-political person to become the next president.
“In my opinion, a non-political person would be the ideal choice as the next president,” Pawar had said.
As the talks of former president APJ Abdul Kalam’s return to Rashtrapati Bhavan are gaining momentum, Kalam on Saturday didn’t rule himself out from the race.
“Let us wait for some time…After that you ask me,” Kalam told reporters here when asked whether he was ready to be elected for a second term as President.
His remarks came at a time when political leaders are holding meetings to reach at a consensus for the election of a new president.
Reports say Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party, J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress have reached an understanding on supporting Kalam for the top post.
—-Agencies