Join the new world

NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday opposed Congress's bid for a consensus over the presidential elections, saying that it would not support any Congress candidate, but reached out to the non-UPA players for an understanding.

"We will not accept any Congress candidate, including Pranab Mukherjee, for the president's post," leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said after emerging from a meeting with party chief Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani and her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley. She also questioned Vice-President Hamid Ansari's credentials for the top constitutional position, saying that he "lacks stature".

However, Swaraj said BJP could support the candidate sponsored by non-Congress players, whereas the latter could support a BJP nominee as vice-president.

The BJP leader said the principal opposition would support former president A P J Abdul Kalam if his candidature was endorsed by Samajwadi Party, which after its landslide win in UP elections has emerged as a crucial swing factor in the contest to decide who gets to succeed Pratibha Patil in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Swaraj linked the decision to the party's plan for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying that any understanding with Congress on the presidential polls would detract from its resolve to defeat the lead UPA player. "We are looking at 2014 elections and do not want to give the impression that we have any truck with the Congress," she said.

She was speaking to reporters a day after defence minister A K Antony discussed Congress's probables for Rashtrapati Bhawan, Ansari and Mukherjee, with DMK chief M Karunanidhi. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is supposed to be the third name on the list.

Swaraj's statement runs contrary to the assessment in certain quarters that the BJP might come around to support finance minister Mukherjee because of his seniority and vast experience, and scotches the possibility of a deal between the two biggest parties over elections to decide the president and the vice-president.

The assertion came amid indications that Congress may have already gained an initial advantage in the contest for Rashtrapati Bhawan. BJP's combat readiness was not backed by any clear indication as to whether it has any assurance of support from either SP or Trinamool Congress who can be the crucial swing players. Mulayam Singh Yadav has already rejected the suggestion that he would goad former president Kalam to take a fresh sigh at Rashtrapati Bhawan; and there is no indication that he has settled on an alternative who, while being acceptable to BJP, may pass political muster with Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee.

In fact, little is known about Banerjee's mind on this, except that she will be meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi after she reaches the Capital on May 2.

Congress, on the other hand, has stepped up its effort to rally the numbers by reaching out to its allies. DMK chief Karunanidhi confirmed on Monday that Antony had had sounded him out on Congress's presidential candidates. The confirmation came amid indications that DMK may be pushing for the candidature of Ansari on the ground that he is a distinguished Muslim intellectual.

Although Congress will go by its own calculus, DMK's wish list points to the strength of the candidature of Ansari despite his late entry in the political arena. Sonia's nod for the vice-president can complicate matters for Samajwadi Party, considering that Ansari is from UP. Ansari has, in any case, a strong backer in the Left which sponsored him for the post of vice-president five years ago, and who can try to persuade Mulayam on his behalf.

Indeed, a section in JD(U) has been campaigning for support for the vice-president, arguing that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who has made strong inroads into Lalu Prasad's Muslim constituency, can build upon the advantage by backing Ansari.

Nitish's move may also determine whether BJP's aggressive plans, as outlined by Swaraj, get translated into reality.