Even after votes were cast in the presidential elections, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and lawyer Ram Jethmalani reiterated that the UPA’s Pranab Mukherjee had no ‘moral standing’ to contest for the post.
Mr. Mukherjee would merely win in the “numbers game,” he said on Saturday.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of an event in the city, Mr. Jethmalani said: “Mr. Mukherjee supported the Emergency, during which the Constitution of the country was defied. How can he be trusted to uphold the tenets of liberty? Why can’t people see the paradox?”
Earlier, Mr. Jethmalani contested Mr. Mukherjee's candidature over his failure to reveal the names of people who had black money stashed away in Swiss bank accounts.
Supporting Mr. Mukherjee’s rival, Mr. Jethmalani said, “By any standards Mr. Sangma is superior, even though he doesn’t stand much of a chance to win, merely because of the numbers game.”
He said: “I would have single-handedly stood for President had the party [BJP] not supported Mr. Sangma. I would have lost, but so what?”
