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Mamata meets Sonia as Congress seeks UPA
consensus on presidential poll
Thursday May 03, 2012 09:49:50 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Congress
president Sonia Gandhi met Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday as part of the Congress's
efforts to build consensus with its United Progressive Alliance
partners on the coming presidential polls.
Though Banerjee termed the meeting a "courtesy call", the two are
believed to have discussed the presidential polls.
Banerjee told reporters after coming out of the 10 Janpath
residence of Gandhi that she had come to enquire about the health
of the Congress president.
Asked if Trinamool Congress would support Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari if they are chosen as
Congress candidates, Banerjee joked: "I am the candidate."
Trinamool Congress sources said Banerjee also met Samajwadi Party
chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to
the Congress president.
"She had one-to-one meeting with Mulayam Singh," a party leader
said.
The two are believed to have discussed the presidential polls and
their stance on supporting the Congress candidate.
Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath had met Banerjee Wednesday
and indicated she will back the Congress nominee in the
presidential polls.
"I'm sure when Mamata meets the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi,
there will be convergence," Kamal Nath told reporters after the
meeting.
Trinamool Congress leaders indicated that the party would state
its stance on the presidential election once the Congress makes up
its mind on its candidate.
"Let them declare the candidate," a Trinamool Congress leader told
IANS.
He said the party believed that the best scenario would be a
consensus candidate.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee met External Affairs Minister S.M.
Krishna and discussed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
upcoming visit to Kolkata.
Clinton will be flying in to Kolkata May 7 after meeting the
Bangladesh leadership in Dhaka and is scheduled to meet Banerjee
and state Governor M.K. Narayanan.
Sources said Clinton may raise the issue of FDI in multi-brand
retail with Banerjee, a measure the Trinamool Congress is opposed
to.
Banerjee was expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Wednesday regarding her demand for a three-year moratorium on
interest payment by the state but the meeting was postponed.
Banerjee had last month issued a 15-day ultimatum to the central
government to accept her demand.
Congress sources said the forthcoming presidential polls may also
figure during Banerjee's meeting with the prime minister.
Names of Ansari and Mukherjee have been mentioned in Congress
circles as possible candidates in presidential polls.
Trinamool Congress leaders had earlier in the day referred to
Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury's remarks about
indispensability of Mukherjee to the government and indicated that
he may not be fielded by the Congress.
Chowdhury had said it will never be easy to leave Mukherjee as he
was a valuable person in the party, but added she had no authority
to say if Mukherjee's name was being discussed as a presidential
candidate.
As her remarks created a flutter, Chowdhury clarified that
decisions about presidential candidates were not taken at her
level.
The Congress also tried to downplay her remark.
"Renuka is a responsible spokesperson... Pranab Mukherjee is
indispensable not only for the government but for the party and
parliament... But finally a choice would have to be made by the
UPA on the next presidential candidate," said party spokesperson
Rashid Alvi.
The Congress has already held consultations with Nationalist
Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on
the presidential polls.
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