"We would like to make it clear if Sangma takes such a step, then it will be his personal choice. As far as BJP and NDA is concerned, post-election we have welcomed the election of the President of India and we would not like to link this to the party or to the NDA," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. The BJP also made it clear that "it would be his (Sangma`s) own propriety as a candidate or an individual" to challenge Mukherjee`s nomination and the party was not discussing this at all.
When asked specifically if the party had ended its concerns on the propriety of Mukherjee`s nomination, Rudy said, "I think so. It is obvious. We are all a part of this Constitution...It`s over (for us)." Sangma, who lost the presidential election to Mukherjee, has been contemplating filing an election petition challenging the former Union Minister`s nomination.
The former Lok Sabha Speaker`s team had alleged that Mukherjee was holding an office of profit as Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, as well as two other institutions, when he filed his nomination papers and his (Mukherjee`s) resignation letter had forged signatures. When asked about BJP leader Satya Pal Jain being part of Sangma`s legal team which filed the objections, Rudy said "the party cannot ask anyone to dissociate and it would be in his personal capacity."