TNI Bureau: Insulted, battered and humiliated Congress Party has gone into damage control mode this morning after Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party snubbed Sonia Gandhi and the party on the issue of Presidential Polls. Leaders from both parties spoke to various news channes and said that the country needs a change in leadership and the PM could be elevated as the President.

Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav not only rejected Sonia Gandhi’s candidates Pranab Mukherjee and Dr. Hamid Ansari, but also proposed a few names, which was more than an insult to the Congress Party.

Mamata and Mulayam tried to show that they rule the roost in the UPA. They proposed former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who was never an option for the Congress.

To add insult to injury, they proposed the name of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as their second option and their party leaders went on the records, saying Manmohan Singh is not a strong leader to lead the UPA coalition. Mamata and Mulayam also added former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to the list.

The Congress has rejected the nominations of Mulayam-Mamata and remains adamant on Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature. The party has gone into a huddle and trying to placate Mulayam so that he supports any decision taken by the UPA government.