Cat Fight among National Parties for Presidential Post

Bangalore: When there isn't much time left to decide the Presidential candidates, the election situation is getting more and more complicated. The flames of presidential elections have risen up especially since the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav revealed their choices.

Each party has got their own stands for the elections. Congress stands firm on their decision on union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari as their party's preference for the top job.

Though alleged political games are being played, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party had expressed their choice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee and former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as the most eligible presidential candidates.

The scenario got complicated when the congress expressed their rejection to all three names.

The UPA constituent Trinamool Congress has freshly revealed that if Congress names Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari as its Presidential candidate, it will "contest" the election with A P J Abdul Kalam as its nominee.

As a comfort, NCP leader Sharad Pawar has met Sonia Gandhi and assured her of support to any candidate that UPA puts forth.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has also said that his party would support the Congress party's choice of presidential candidate and slammed political parties for "making a joke" of the issue. The RJD chief said Congress President Sonia Gandhi's choice for the top post will be supported by his party.

(With IANS inputs)