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Mamata logs on to Facebook to canvass for
Kalam
Saturday June 16, 2012 08:05:33 PM,
IANS
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Kolkata: Terming her
support for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the president's post as the
"voice of millions of Indians", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee Saturday logged on to social networking site Facebook and
appealed to users to come out in support of the former president.
Quoting a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, Banerjee in her first post
on Facebook wrote: "I am a humble, transparent, common person like
the vast majority of you. I gave voice to what millions of Indians
want to see in a President. Abdul Kalam is a proud and
distinguished son of India who continues to inspire all Indians."
The irony of Banerjee's appeal through Facebook is hard to miss as
she had drawn the ire of the netizens by arresting a Jadavpur
University professor for on-line circulation of cartoons involving
Banerjee and Railway Minister Mukul Roy.
"He is the kind of man all our citizens aspire to make President.
My party is a small party. We are led by truth and conviction. All
through my life I have stood by my principles. I stand by the
position I have taken," wrote Banerjee.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the central government's most
reliable trouble shooter, was Friday named the United Progressive
Alliance's (UPA) candidate for the presidency and found backing
from many political parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP)
and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh had, along
with Banerjee, virtually rejected Mukherjee, whom Congress
president Sonia Gandhi suggested for presidency during her talks
with Banerjee.
The two parties had Wednesday named Kalam, former Lok Sabha
speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as
their three preferred candidates for president.
But Banerjee and Trinamool Congress were left red-faced after
Mulayam Singh Friday did a U-turn, and announced he would support
Mukherjee as the country's president. But an unfazed Banerjee
remained firm on her stand to support Kalam.
"In a democracy people's will is supreme. I request all my fellow
citizens to petition their public representatives to stand up,
support and vote for Kalam. Let your voice be heard. I will bow to
the will of the people," she wrote.
A civil society rally prompted by a section of Trinamool
leadership was taken out in the heart of the city with the demand
of electing Kalam to the top post.
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