Congress rejects TMC-SP names for President

After the shock announcement by the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday proposing the names of former president A P J Abdul Kalam, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee and,  perhaps tongue in cheek, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as their choices for Presidency of India, the Congress today rejected the suggestions outright.

After a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party as well as of the ruling United Progressive Alliance union, on Wednesday afternoon, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party boss Mulayam Singh Yadav had rejected the Congress choices of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Hamid Ansari and instead offered their own candidates (See: Congress proposes Pranab, Ansari for president, TMC, SP name PM, Kalam, Somnath).

The move was seen as yet another public slap in the face of the Congress by the TMC, a key constituent of the UPA, as Banerjee had earlier given indications that her party would back the candidature of Mukherjee, the Congress' first choice.

The sudden bonhomie between Banerjee and Yadav, not known to be particularly close so far, is also seen as politically significant.

Today Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said, "We cannot afford to spare Manmohan Singh. The other two names (Abdul Kalam and Chatterjee) are not acceptable."

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Dwivedi added, "We have already said he (Singh) will remain the prime minister till 2014 [the next general election]. The Congress does not take such a step (of changing its leader) in between," he said.