Race to Raisina Hills
From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: In a day of fast developments, former Lokm Sabha Speaker and NCP leader Purno A Sangma surged ahead in the presidential race even though his own party NCP, which is part of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre declared its reluctance to project the veteran tribal leader.
Sangma himself told several reporters that there is no clear-cut stand from his leader Sharad Pawar since the formal announcement has not been made and the party has only 15 MPs in Parliament.
He also surprised everybody when he said in one of his interviews that he, on behalf of the tribal forum, has sought audience with top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, once his bête noirie.
The former Speaker even accepted proposals to have a live Presidential debate with Vice-President Hamid Ansari who is one of the Congress probables.
Playing his cards very well, Sangma made it clear that the next President has to be a consensus one with neither the ruling UPA nor the Opposition NDA having numbers either in Parliament or in the state assemblies which will vote in the polls.
“Hence, a candidate acceptable to most will occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan,” he said.
It may be noted that Sangma has already garnered much required support from two powerful regional leaders – Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the AIDMK and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the BJD.
Both parties are in ruling in two big states and have fair numbers of MPs in both Houses.
The veteran leader expects support from SP or BSP and is confident of siphoning off JD(U) from the NDA and Trinamool Congress from the UPA. In such a scenario he might emerge as consensus candidate supported by one of the major blocks but most likely by the NDA, observers feel.
Purno also tried to play down his past criticism of Sonia, saying that the chapter is closed now with the issue of her foreign origin being over. But he defended his demand to make a tribal as a candidate for the topmost post since ‘such practice has been followed earlier’.