New Delhi: The feisty West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her Trinamool Congress party would support India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee in the July 19 presidential election.
The announcement came after several weeks of high voltage political drama despite her party being the second largest constituent of the UPA behind the Congress party.
“We have decided to support Pranab Mukherjee for the presidential poll keeping in mind the alliance we have,” Banerjee announced in the state capital Kolkata after a meeting with the party’s parliamentary and legislative party leaders.
Banerjee, known as a maverick politician and famous for antics, had refused to support fellow Bengali Mukherjee and instead suggested names of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and even the incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the new president making no bones about her dislike for Mukherjee.
She did not hide her disappointment even on Tuesday when she announced her support for Mukherjee, saying her party took the decision in the interest of democracy and the coalition.
“It’s a painful decision… Taking the decision was tough. Had Kalam agreed to be in the race, we would have supported him. Nobody forced my hand. I have not taken my decision by bowing down to any pressure,” she said, adding that she did not want nearly 50,000 Trinamool Congress votes to go waste as besides being the ruling party of West Bengal, her Trinamool was the largest opposition party in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and the second largest UPA constituent.
Banerjee wished Mukherjee good luck and said the old (bitter chapter with Mukherjee) chapter is closed now. “I have spoken to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi two-three days back. I spoke to the Prime Minister early today and have informed him of my decision,” said the West Bengal chief minister.
Banerjee made it clear that her party is yet to decide whether to extend their support to incumbent Hamid Ansari, named by UPA as its candidate for August 7 vice presidential election.
It is also not clear if Banerjee or her party would attend the Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi’s dinner in New Delhi on Wednesday for all allies and friendly parties on the eve of the Thursday polling for the presidential election.
Mamata’s U-turn has put paid to any hopes the opposition-sponsored candidate Purno A Sangma had of becoming the first ever tribal President of India. With Mamata by his side, Mukherjee is now assured of getting support of 60.57 per cent votes while Sangma can only count on just 31.7 per cent votes.
Both the Congress party and Mukherjee himself welcomed Banerjee’s announcement in this regard, while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to point out that she succumbed under pressure.
It is widely felt that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s carrot and stick policy forced Banerjee to rethink her options. While Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ruled by non-UPA parties received special economic packages after announcing their supports to Mukherjee, Banerjee’s demand for a similar package for West Bengal was thus far overlooked.
Counting of votes is slated to take place on July 22 and the new president would be sworn in on July 25, the day incumbent President Pratibha Patil retired upon completion of her five-year tenure in the office.
