Even as major political parties have set the ball in motion for electing the next President of India, the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has not ruled out the possibility of being a consensus candidate.
Asked whether he was interested in contesting the election if he emerged as a consensus candidate and accepted by all major parties, Mr. Kalam said, “Let us see then.”
Mr. Kalam said he was reading newspapers and watching television channels. In a lighter vein, he said he received information through one ear and let it go through the other. He would not think beyond that.
Asked about the informal announcement made by a few parties, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, that they were ready to accept his candidature, Mr. Kalam said he read about it in newspapers. He could not comment further on the debate at the moment.
He was speaking to The Hindu on Sunday at the Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikudi before inaugurating the Centre for Innovation in Energy Research.
