MUMBAI: When former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma is battling on to muster support for his presidential ambitions, he is now cold-shouldered by his own party.
Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Sunday said it would support the UPA candidate in the forthcoming presidential election.
“NCP would back the UPA candidate … the final decision would be taken by Sharad Pawar on this,” said Baramati MP and Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule here.
When asked about the possible candidature of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Sule said, “He is a very senior leader … I am not eligible to comment on him.”
Sule was talking to reporters after the launch of NCP’s ‘Rashtravadi Yuvati Congress’, a new wing for young women.
BJP yet to open cards: Meanwhile, former Union Minister and BJP official spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain has said his party would disclose its strategy on Presidential elections only after the ruling UPA coalition announces name of its candidate.
Until the ruling Congress party does not announces name of its candidate for the President’s post, BJP would keep its cards close to its chest, Shahnawaz told reporters here.
On whether BJP would support Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the post of President, he said, “Let Congress party first name the candidate for the post, then only our party will disclose the strategy.”
Stating that this time the presidential elections would be “interesting”, he said it was not necessary that the ruling party candidate would be the winner. “This time the presidential election results would be surprising and our party is working on this strategy,” he said.
Demanding an investigation into the alleged coal scam, Shahnawaz asked why the UPA government was afraid to order a probe when, according to them, there was no scam in allocation of coal blocks. (PTI)