Prez polls: Trinamool to support Pranab Mukherjee

After proposing the name of A P J Abdul Kalam and two others a month ago creating a near crisis for the UPA government last month, Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today disclosed the party`s decision saying it had no no other option and that it was not not to support any individual.

The decision of the party, the second largest constituent in the UPA with 19 MPs in Lok Sabha and 9 in Rajya Sabha, comes apparently under pressure from within the party to back Mukherjee, who would be the first Bengali to become a President, and not not to ignore local sentiments. "We have taken the decision with pain and not not from our heart. We have taken the decision without any provocation or financial deal," Banerjee told the media after a meeting of party leaders.

She made a bare reference to Bengali origins of the UPA candidate saying "Pranabda is from Bengal but we have taken the decision due to our commitment to the people". The Trinamool decision was immediately welcomed by the Congress party in Delhi and by Mukherjee`s son Abhijit, an MLA in West Bengal.

With Trinamool`s decision, Mukherjee has the support of nearly 7 lakh vote value in an electoral college of nearly 11 lakh. Apart from UPA partners, he also has the support of CPI(M) and Forward Bloc and BJP allies JD(U) and Shiv Sena. Banerjee was virtually cornered in the UPA after she was ditched by Samajwadi Party last month after she and Mulayam Singh sponsored the name of former President Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former West Bengal Governor Rajmohan Gandhi.

Asked why her party has chosen to support Mukherjee with whom she has blown hot and cold in the recent past, Banerjee said "We took the decision in the interest of the UPA coalition and in greater national interest and keeping in mind the people`s interests. "We are not supporting any individual. But we have no option. It is a tough decision we have taken but not to please anyone. We took the decision reluctantly. The pleasure we would have got is missing in our decision today."

She said, "If we had abstained from voting it would have been a plus for Pranab Mukherjee. If we vote, then also it would be a plus for him. We had no no other option." Asked about her party`s stand on the vice-presidential election in which incumbent Hamid Ansari has been named the UPA nominee and BJP leader Jaswant Singh the NDA candidate, Banerjee said "the party will decide later. "Vice-President, we will decide later. We are not contesting," she said.