TNI Bureau: The Congress Party has officially ruled out any change in the leadership at the Centre, saying it has full trust in Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of the country. The party also rejected the names of APJ Abdul Kalam and Somnath Chatterjee as the next President of India.
The Congress has confirmed that Pranab Mukherjee and Dr. Hamid Ansari would remain Congress’s first list of choices and the discussions would be held on more names. However, the party refused to accept Kalam and Somnath as its choice.
In a guided statement, Congress Spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi expressed his resentment the way Mamata Banerjee made the Congress’ choices public after meeting Sonia Gandhi. The party was stunned into silence yesterday when Mamata revealed that Sonia talked to her on the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee and Hamid Ansari.
The Congress has made it clear that it has started the consultation process and would hold talks with all UPA allies before making its final stand public. Mr. Dwivedi further confirmed that Dr. Manmohan Singh will remain the Prime Minister of India till 2014.