He is a "scholar" and "most suited" to the high office of President, says SP supremo
In less than 48 hours the Samajwadi Party did a volte face on its choice of Presidential candidate and declared its whole-hearted support to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after his name was officially endorsed by the United Progressive Alliance, party president Mulayam Singh Yadav declined to explain his position vis-à-vis Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, with whom he, on Wednesday, jointly announced a list of three Presidential probables, comprising the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee.
“In politics, such questions are useless. As new situation emerges, decisions are taken,” he told journalists.
Declaring his unequivocal support to Mr. Mukherjee, Mr. Yadav said the Finance Minister was a “scholar” and “most suited” to the high office of President.
Mr. Yadav's endorsement came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to him following the UPA meeting that approved Mr. Mukherjee's candidature.
Earlier, even as the party leadership was involved in backchannel talks with the Congress, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav went public with an assertion that the party will not join the UPA and that it did not want to impose mid-term polls.
The SP extends outside support to the UPA.
The situation is akin to the one in 2009 when the SP broke away from the newly-formed United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and the Left parties to bail out the UPA government on the India-U.S. nuclear deal.
After the Left parties withdrew their outside support to the UPA in its first term, the SP formed the UNPA but almost at the last moment, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav decided to side with the government, saying the nuclear deal was important for the country.
This time round, Mr. Yadav himself declared three alternative names as his and the Trinamool's choice for President, but within 24 hours he refused to stand by Ms. Banerjee when she declared that Mr. Kalam was their preferred choice.
Game-changer
Party sources claim the SP has been a game-changer by forcing the Congress hand in declaring his candidature. They further claim that Ms. Banerjee did an even greater service to Mr. Mukherjee by revealing that the Congress was exploring possibilities about two candidates — Mr. Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari — showing that the party was not serious about Mr. Mukherjee.
In between the two positions lay the SP's expectations for the UPA's help in dealing with Mr. Yadav's disproportionate assets case and the Trinamool's seeking of financial relief for West Bengal.
Keywords: Presidential polls, Pranab Mukherjee, UPA candidate
Mulayam Yaddhav is not a dependable politician. He is akin to
Karunanidhi. He is an opportunist leader. He wants his son to
rule UP without any financial problems. Sonia has agreed to fulfill his needs. This is nothing but an adjustment and even
bribe. Which Lok pal can prevent this? More over his financial
fraud dealings in his disproportionate assets also will not be
touched now by C B I as per instructions of the Madam. Does
Mulayam not know that Pranab is the "most suited " and " scholar"
before he proposed Dr Kalam, Manmohan singh and others for the
Presidentship along with Manatha Banerjee? It is all blackmail by
the UP leader over the Center. Now he will ask a berth in the
cabinet for himself in addition to vice Presidentship post.
The corrupt, extortionist politicians of India make fli flop decisions everyday based on their personal suitabilities. Some behind the scene manipulations must have taken place yesterday and one of the most corrupt politicians of India has been nominated by Congress for "KING's" post.
The "public servant" has become "master of the public" over the years and was earlier seeking "bakshish - then he became corrupt and now extortionists and uses terror to make money.
There is no end in India - the scams are getting bigger and bigger every day.
And all of them have so many discretionary powers.
They can even interpret the definition of laws as per their wish.
And most of the time courts treat their versions as 100% truth.
100 ke 100 Be-imaan - phir bhi mera Bharat Mahaan.
The message being sent out by ALL the political parties is - "The common man is STUPID". The whole process of electing the president has become a joke and it is a shame that not a single party has conducted itself with dignity. Look at the drama that has unfolded over the past few weeks one has to ask the question - How do we trust the trust the politicians ? A simple (Yes it is simple) process to elect a president cannot be managed by the government (Congress in particular) and one can only guess how much time will be devoted to manage more serious issues like the economy, healthcare, poverty etc. The common man is spectator to the political circus in parliament and every election it is a choice between very bad, less bad, least bad candidates and never about selecting a good candidate. I am sorry to write pessimistically but I cant see the positive side of our politicians today.
Will Mamata fall in-line with the Congress or join the NDA by supporting either Kalam or Somnath. It would be interesting to see Somnath Chatterjee standing for the President with support from Mamata, NDA and other non-Congress parties.
It appears Mulayam will be the vice-president nominee of the UPA.
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