New Delhi/Kolkata: The Election Commission announced on Tuesday that the Presidential election would be held July 19, setting the ball rolling for the process to decide on who would be the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

All eyes are now on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who will take the final call on the ruling UPA’s candidate.

While union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has emerged front-runner, there is no clarity on who would be the United Progressive Alliance’s choice for the post.

Suspense has been mounting and there have been hectic consultations between leaders of various political parties but no names have been thrown up.

The only declared candidate is former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma, who has been actively lobbying for support amongst opposition parties.

Chief election commissioner VS Sampath said the elections would be notified June 16, be held on July 19 and the votes counted on July 22, just two days before President Pratibha Patil’s term ends.

As the tempo built up, the Congress let out little and only said that there were no differences amongst the allies.

“We have repeatedly demonstrated that UPA is united and cohesive,” said party spokesperson Manish Tewari.

It is being hoped that the wait for the UPA’s ‘consensus’ candidate ends on Wednesday when Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee meets Gandhi.

She told reporters in Kolkata before leaving for the national capital that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would be present as well.

The Manmohan Singh-led government, which has for weeks been trying to balance interests of its often troublesome allies, is hoping to resolve differences with the Trinamool and SP, who have the maximum numbers and are crucial for the Congress candidate to win.

Asked to comment on speculation that Mukherjee, the government’s most senior minister and troubleshooter for all seasons, was the front-runner in becoming the Congress candidate, she said: “This is an issue for the Congress.”

She also denied that her backing for the Congress’ choice for the post was linked to a financial package for her state.

Banerjee had earlier indicated that she was not in favour of Mukherjee, who has cancelled his visit to Afghanistan fuelling conjecture that the choice would narrow down to only him.

Sources admit that if Mukherjee is indeed the chosen one, Banerjee would find it difficult to oppose him – if elected, he would be the first Bengali in the Presidential palace.

SP chief Mulayam Singh has been of the same view.

He told reporters on Monday that he wanted the Congress to first announce its candidate. Asked about Mukherjee, he said: “I do not know who is the candidate. When a candidate is declared, we will decide.” Another key ally, the NCP, indicated that Mukherjee could well be the man for the top post.

“India’s president will be acceptable to all. He will be a seniormost person who will be congratulated by the entire country,” senior NCP leader DP Tripathi said.

Interestingly, NCP has not backed Sangma. If all goes well and there is consensus amongst allies in the UPA, the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will have little say.

New Delhi: NCP has pulled up union minister and party leader Agatha Sangma for actively canvassing for her father P A Sangma’s candidature in the presidential election, to be held on July 19.

A senior NCP leader said it was noticed that Agatha, who is a party MP from Tura and Union Minister of State for Rural Development had accompanied her father and former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma to Bhubhaneswar after his candidature was announced by BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

“She has been told not to campaign for Sangma as she is an union minister and an NCP MP,” the leader said.

NCP has already declared that it cannot propose Sangma’s name as a presidential candidate as it does not have the requisite number. The party has announced its support for the UPA candidate.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Vincent H Pala has ruled out the possibility of former Lok Sabha Speaker winning the Presidential election and said all the Congress MPs from the North-East will vote for the candidate selected by the Congress and the UPA for the country’s top post.

“All MPs from the north east are bounded by the Congress high command and party decision in the Presidential election,” Pala said in Shillong.

Expressing that he, a Congress MP from Shillong, would be happy to vote for a person from the north east, Pala said, “Even if few of us vote for him (Sangma), it would not make enough margin to ensure his victory as most MPs of the region would be voting for the UPA candidate.”

According to Pala, the region has a representation of about 30 in both the Houses.

Pala who was here to review party’s preparedness on the 2013 assembly poll in Meghalaya.

“We have shortlisted about 40 candidates,” Pala said. (PTI)

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: The State now needs to adopt a new strategy to resolve vexed boundary problem with Assam since the Assam Assembly had rejected the idea for a boundary commission, said Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said Meghalaya cannot afford to antagonize Assam and a cordial working relationship between both the states is necessary to resolve this long-pending issue.

The Chief Minister, however, said the Government would ensure that the people living in the disputed areas are not deprived of the various developmental programmes of his government.

According to him, both the governments had decided that whenever a district administration wants to inspect the area, the counterpart must also accompany it besides taking any joint decision.

When asked about the Assam’s approach to solve the dispute, Dr Sangma said Assam is positive about resolving this issue and “this is why regular meetings are taking place between the two states.”

Dr Sangma reiterated the need to have a consensus among all political parties of the State to solve the border dispute with Assam and urged the agitating elected representatives and the individuals to “re-strategise their approach” as they put pressure on the government to solve the dispute.

“To a great extend, I see the border problem with Assam (lingers on) because there was no consensus among political parties and called all political parties to unitedly resolve. The issue is not being resolved in a manner it should be. There should be a concerted effort from all concerned,” Dr Sangma said.

An MLA of the coalition partner in the Congress-led government Ardent Basaiawmoit and four other members to the Autonomous District Council, have called for a statewide sit-in protest against the government for its ‘failure’ to end the crisis at the border.

A youth from Langpih, a village under West Khasi Hills district where four indigenous youths were shot dead by Assam Police in 2010, threatened to go on a fast-unto-death from June 30 if the government fails in its endeavour to solve the dispute.

Maintaining that everybody is free to take up the issue (of border dispute), the Chief Minister said, “At the same time, they should also look at the intention of the government.”

CM confident of closing development gap: The Chief Minister has exuded confidence that Rs 3,939 crore Annual Plan for 2012-13 would help the State to close the prevailing development gaps.

Dr Sangma admitted that there was a huge gap between the people’s expectations and what is happening in the filed in terms of development of infrastructure, employment besides other sectors.

According to Dr Sangma, the State Government now intends to invest in education sector.

“We will initiate some programmes to ensure quality education in the state,” he said

The State Government will also upscale its investment in the flagship programmes, he said adding “We would support community with better infrastructure through our new strategy.”

Dr Sangma also stated that the priorities for the 12th Plan would include accelerated development of infrastructure, both physical and social and introduction of policies as this will encourage private sector participation in infrastructure development. (With inputs from PTI)