Support swells, but Kalam likely to say no to IInd term

HELLO FRIENDS

President A P J Abdul Kalam will not get involved in the presidential election and is unhappy that his name has been dragged in, sources have told CNN-IBN.


The Third Front, an alliance of eight regional parties on Monday, announced that they would request Kalam to fight for a second term but he is going to decline the alliance leaders when he meets them on Wednesday.


Kalam has a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday evening and is expected to announce his decision.


Support for Kalam is strong though. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who is part of the opposition NDA, has said that Kalam was her “first choice” for the President’s post.


"Kalam is our first choice for Presidential election. When I attended a meeting of the NDA about a month back, I had said this," Banerjee told PTI in Kolkata.


"We want a person like Abdul Kalam who is impartial and has a stature," she said. "If President Kalam contests the presidential poll, we will support him. Even presidential candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has stated that he would be happy if consensus can be achieved on the candidature of incumbent A P J Abdul Kalam."


Kalam’s no would leave two candidates in the race: UPA’s Pratibha Patil and Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who has the NDA’s support.


Pratibha Patil home, almost


In an electoral college of 10,98,882, the UPA, Left and the BSP's tally of votes comes to 5,70,000. So Pratibha Patil is well ahead of the halfway mark.


The BJP-led NDA's votes come to 3,54,689. Out of this, the Shiv Sena commands 22,950 votes. So far, indications are that the Sena might actually go along with UPA nominee Pratibha Patil because she comes from Maharashtra. In that case, it could be a bigger setback for Shekhawat.


The Third Front, which includes the AIADMK, the Samajwadi Party, the Telugu Desam, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Asom Gana Parishad, has 1,06,281 votes. This group also has the support of former PM Deve Gowda’s JD (S) party.


Patil is therefore set to sail through.