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Race for Prez: JD (U) differs with BJP;
Kalam gets more supports
Tuesday May 01, 2012 05:31:17 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Differences
in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the presidential
candidate emerged Tuesday with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U)
refusing to stand by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which the
day before declared it supports neither Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee nor Vice President Hamid Ansari for the top post.
There had been no discussion on the presidential candidate in the
BJP-led opposition alliance, JD-U leader and NDA convenor Sharad
Yadav said.
"The view that Sushma-ji has expressed is their party's view.
There has not been any discussion with us or in the NDA on the
presidential candidates," Sharad Yadav told reporters.
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj Monday said her party would not support
Mukherjee or any other Congress candidate. She also said the party
would not back Ansari but was open to former president A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam.
A day later, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Tuesday said the
party wanted a name on which all could agree.
"We want them to bring such a candidate on which all parties can
arrive at consensus... but going by what the Congress did in the
last presidential poll, when they converted it in a contest rather
than electing a unanimous candidate, we have no expectation,"
Naqvi said here.
"If they try to bring some political figure, we will definitely
not accept," he said.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), which is extending outside support to
the Congress-led government, said Kalam was a good choice and
pitched for a Muslim candidate.
SP leader Kamal Farooqui also suggested the names of Chief
Election Commissioner S.Y. Qureshi and former deputy chairman of
Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan.
"My party is discussing name. We will come out with a name very
soon... the non-NDA parties are in support of a Muslim candidate,
and as BJP is for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, they may also support if a
good Muslim candidate is pitched," Farooqui told TV news channel
Times Now.
"Kalam saab is a good candidate... but we have not agreed on any
name so far, we are discussing it," he said.
President Pratibha Patil's term ends in the third week of July.
The UPA has over 40 percent of the total votes in the electoral
college while the NDA has less than 30 percent. Neither grouping
can elect a presidential candidate on its own electoral strength.
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 Presidential
Polls: BJP rules out backing Ansari; keeps Kalam option open
Sushma Swaraj said BJP was gauging the
mood of the UPA allies and pointed to possibility of a contest.
"We will contest to win. We will work out an arithmetic,"
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