Neither Pranab nor Ansari,says BJP,sets stage for a contest

“We can have an understanding with non-Congress parties where we support their presidential candidate and they support our vice-presidential candidate,” she said after a meeting with her party president Nitin Gadkari and senior leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley. Kalam’s candidature was,however,subject to his agreeing to be the nominee of the non-Congress grouping.

“We will not accept any Congress candidate including Pranab Mukherjee,” Swaraj told reporters. She added that Vice-President Ansari “does not have the stature to be president and hence BJP will not support him”.

The BJP stand seemed to have been finalised keeping in mind the sharpening polarisation with the Congress and the political strategy of not conveying any softening of the line against the government until the Lok Sabha elections.

“We are looking at the 2014 elections and do not want to give the impression that we have any truck with the Congress,” Swaraj said.

The Congress this evening refrained from reacting to the development,but the BJP’s stand brings complications for its strategy. The party has begun a preliminary exercise in this regard — NCP chief Sharad Pawar had called on Sonia Gandhi last week,and Defence Minister A K Antony met DMK chief M Karunanidhi yesterday.

Pranab Mukherjee,by far the most eligible candidate in the Congress,did not seem to mind after speculation over his candidature increased markedly following the Antony-Karunanidhi meeting yesterday. “Oh my goodness,please dont speculate” he told reporters.

Swaraj’s blunt remark that Ansari did not have the “stature” is indication of the BJP’s unhappiness with the manner in which he abruptly adjourned the last session of the Rajya Sabha when the voting on the Lokpal Bill was taken up. Only the RJD has so far openly supported Ansari’s candidature.

Swaraj said the BJP was currently gauging the mood of UPA allies and supporting partners,especially the SP. “We will contest to win. We will work out an arithmetic,” she said. Jaitley had recently called on AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa in Chennai to discuss the presidential elections. Swaraj did not reveal whom the NDA might field in case of a contest,the names of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Jaswant Singh are in the air.

The UPA has only 42 per cent votes in the electoral college. The NDA has 28 per cent; the remaining votes are with the SP,BSP,Left,AIADMK,BJP,TDP and other regional parties.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said,“We are consulting with our allies. Talks are at a very preliminary stage at the moment. The President of India is an extremely august office. This is not an office which should be brought into the realm of unnecessary speculation. While it is true that the term of the current president will be ending in July,it is also a fact that formally the process to choose the next president has not kicked off.”