From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Purno Agitok Sangma, who received formal support from the main Opposition party BJP on Thursday, will set out on a countrywide tour to canvas for his Presidential race.
Purno’s parent party NCP, which held a meeting here on Thursday, failed to arrive at any decision on the future of Purno’s daughter, Agatha K Sangma, who is a Minister of State in the Union Council of Ministers.
“She is a minister on behalf of the NCP and all our MPs and MLAs will be asked to vote for Mr Pranab Mukherjee as the UPA candidate,” NCP leader Dr DP Tripathy said after emerging from a marathon meeting of the party.
Incidentally, Agatha who was invited to the meeting did not show up, provoking a huge media presence both in front of her official residence and the NCP office.
Meanwhile, the BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has stated that the Prime Minister’s request for their support for Mukherjee’s candidature came too late after a ‘unilateral’ decision to field him.
“A prerequisite of consensus is consultation,” Swaraj added.
She, however, acknowledged that two major allies of the BJP — the Shiv Sena and JD(U) — have refused to back Sangma. “We are still trying to get them on board,” she mentioned.
Congress spokesperson, Janardhan Dwivedi, however, said, “It would be childish to say the UPA did not consult. Sangma may have many qualities but there is no comparison between Sangma and Mukherjee.”
Arun Jaitley of the BJP also said that the party wants to convince West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to vote for Sangma as well.
Though Banerjee is a member of the ruling UPA, she has been estranged from the Coalition over her refusal to support Mukherjee.
Sangma, meanwhile, thanked all the parties for their support.
“I have spoken to Mamata Banerjee. She had requested me to support her candidate. Now that Kalam is out of the race, I hope she will support me. I will talk to her again,” he said.