TNI Bureau: It’s official now! Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been named as the Presidential candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Congress Party.
All UPA allied except Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress rallied behind Pranab Mukherjee, as Sonia Gandhi took the decision to choose Pranab as the Presidential candidate. The UPA appealed the MLAs and MPs from all political parties to support Pranab Mukherjee.
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The meeting was held at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s 7 Race Course Road residence. While the NCP, DMK, National Conference, RLD, Muslim League and other parties unanimously decided to back Pranab. Apart from those, Pranab also reportedly got the support of RJD, JD (S), Samajwadi Party and BSP. The Samajwadi Party dumped the Trinamool Congress and declared its support for Pranab Mukherjee.
It would be interesting to see how the BJP-led NDA, Left and other non-Congress and non-BJP parties respond to Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature. The Left parties and JD-U may back the UPA candidate, it is believed.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has called BJP leader Sushma Swaraj to seek her party’s support. It is almost certain that there won’t be any contest and Pranab Mukherjee will become the President of India. Mamata Banerjee turned out to be the biggest loser in the entire political drama. The Congress showed her the right place.