Left parties throw lot behind Narayanan

With the BJP working hard to project P.C. Alexander as the consensus candidate for the President’s post, the Left today thought it fit ...

With the BJP working hard to project P.C. Alexander as the consensus candidate for the President’s post, the Left today thought it fit to make their choice loud and clear — a second term for incumbent K.R. Narayanan.

Brushing aside convention of no President ever having had a second term after Dr Rajendra Prasad, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan today said, ‘‘This talk about conventions is being flo-ated by the BJP to thwart a consensus Narayanan’s favour.’’

However, Bardhan grudgingly admitted that a contest for the President’s post at this juncture would certainly be avoidable. ‘‘We need to send a message to the world that we are united on this issue,’’ he said.

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In fact, it was the Left Parties which reportedly first broached the subject, of Narayanan’s re-election, with the Congress.

CPI(M) Parliamentary Party leader Somnath Chatterjee is said to have held talks with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other leaders such as Natwar Singh to convince them of the judiciousness of maintaining status quo at Raisina Hills.

When Narayanan’s health was raised, Bardhan said he was ‘‘quite fit’’. Besides, the CPI leader said he (Narayanan) himself has not objected to a second term. ‘‘If he were not in good health, he would have declined a second term. The President has so far not rejected our plea for a second stint in the Rashtrapati Bhavan,’’ Bardhan argued.

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