BJP won’t back Congress name, fancies Kalam

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday clearly indicated that it would not support a presidential candidate of the Congress. BJP stalwart and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the party was in favour of former president APJ Abdul Kalam being brought back to Rashtrapati Bhavan again though there were problems with his candidature too.

This means that despite holding Pranab Mukherjee in high regard, the BJP will not support the finance minister whose name has also cropped up as a contender for the post of president.

Congress leader AK Antony suggested the name of vice-president Hamid Ansari for the coveted post during a meeting with DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Monday. The DMK is against the idea of Kalam succeeding Pratibha Patil.

In 2002, Kalam wanted to be a consensus candidate but it will be difficult to avert a contest this time, Swaraj told journalists at her chamber in Parliament on Monday. She said she was not sure whether Kalam would understand the compulsions of the situation and step into the fray.

Swaraj said it would not be possible to assure Kalam a victory. Any contest would end in victory or defeat and it will be necessary to fight it keeping that in mind. She could not say whether Kalam was prepared for a contest.

The BJP, however, has not deliberated on the issue as yet and would want to wait till the Congress announces its candidate before revealing its strategy, Swaraj said.

She also ruled out an arrangement whereby the Congress would have its presidential nominee and the BJP nominates the vice-presidential candidate.

She said there was no question of a deal with the Congress and that the presidential election cannot be seen in isolation. The party will have to look forward to 2014, Swaraj said.

The BJP leader has clearly implied that her party would not want to field a candidate of its own because that would hinder possible opposition unity. She has, however, not ruled out a consensus candidate if the name of the person suggested was so above political fray that it would not be possible to refuse to support him/her.

She admitted that the BJP would not want to throw up a name because some parties - she had the Communist parties in mind - would not support the BJP's suggestion. Swaraj said it would be better if the nominee's name came from a party like the Samajwadi Party as it would help in forging broader unity among all non-Congress parties. She said there would then be a possibility of attracting Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and the Biju Janata Dal into the fold.

Swaraj indicated that the BJP would prefer a contest and would not remain a passive player though it may not muster the numbers in the electoral college comprising the state legislatures and two houses of Parliament to defeat the Congress-led UPA candidate.