Thaindian News

Kolkata, June 18 (IANS) A Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Monday said there were “high chances” of the Trinamool reaching out to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to garner support for the presidential polls.

“We might reach out to the NDA for their support or they can also get in touch with us if they also choose Kalam for the post of president. There are very high chances of that. But right now, nothing is clear,” a senior Trinamool MP told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the central government’s most reliable trouble shooter, was Friday named the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) candidate for the presidency and found backing from many political parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh had, along with Banerjee, virtually rejected Mukherjee, whom Congress president Sonia Gandhi suggested for the presidency during her talks with Banerjee.

The two parties had Wednesday named Kalam, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as their three preferred candidates for the presidency.

Banerjee and Trinamool Congress were left red-faced after Mulayam Singh Friday did a U-turn, and announced he would support Mukherjee as the country’s president. But an unfazed Banerjee remained firm on her stand to support Kalam.

When asked whether the Trinamool leadership apprehended cross-voting from their side in the event of a contest, the MP said, “It is too early to comment that there will be cross-voting.”

The Trinamool MP also stated that the future of the Trinamool in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will depend on the “attitude of the Congress”.

Banerjee, in order to garner public support for Kalam, has also logged onto Facebook and had requested netizens to come out in support of Kalam.