Some constituents of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), along with the Left parties, are set to create a pressure group within the ruling combine to strengthen their bargaining position ahead of the crucial Presidential election. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the DMK and the Left parties are said to be in touch with one another to formulate a joint strategy on the issue of the UPA’s presidential candidate. This loosely-knit pressure group will make the job harder for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi when they return to the negotiating table next week to finalise the UPA candidate. The first indication of how tough the bargaining could be came in a meeting at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s residence today, in which Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar conveyed his reservation about Congress High Command’s choice of Home Minister Shivraj Patil as the UPA nominee. Emerging out of Mukherjee’s residence, Pawar flew to Chennai to attend a BCCI meeting. He will also consult Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi on the presidential election, said NCP sources. The reasons cited by the NCP for its reservation against Patil included his defeat in Lok Sabha election just three years ago and his lacklustre performance as Home Minister. “Besides, Sonia Gandhi is not projecting him to counter the NDA candidate. The Congress effort is to put up a challenge to Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra,” said an NCP leader. Congress sources, however, said there were other reasons for the NCP’s reservation against Patil. That the NCP wants a Governor’s post is a well-known fact. Added to it is the anxiety about some re-thinking within the UPA on the need to separate Agriculture and Food & Civil Supplies portfolios, both currently held by Pawar. Congress sources added that the logic about Patil’s projection as a Maratha strongman vis-à-vis Pawar did not stand ground because Patil is a Lingayat from Karnataka and not a Maratha. The Left parties, on the other hand, want the Vice-President’s post in exchange for their support to the Congress candidate. Besides, wary of the anti-incumbency factor that might catch up with them, the Left allies are also eager to distance themselves from the UPA. The Congress had recently proposed a UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting but the Left was reluctant, said sources.
