Sonia pitches for Narayanan with PM

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today urged the Government to evolve a consensus on giving K R Narayanan a second term as President. She mad...

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today urged the Government to evolve a consensus on giving K R Narayanan a second term as President. She made the demand at a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani, ahead of the briefing on the developing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indo-Pak border.

Sonia is understood to have emphasised that Narayanan should be re-elected since he was a Dalit and had fulfilled his role well enough. According to sources, Vajpayee told her he had held consultations with the NDA partners on the issue and they felt the convention of not giving a second term to the President should be followed.

Only Dr Rajendra Prasad has held office as President for two consecutive terms, and since then no President has been re-elected for a second term.

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Neither Vajpayee nor Gandhi, however, discussed any other name as a possible alternative candidate. Sources indicated that there would be another meeting between the two leaders ‘‘soon’’ to discuss the issue. Gandhi’s demand has come in view of the fact that though there is less than a month left for the electoral process to start, there is no consensus on an alternative candidate for President.

Earlier in the day, former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Pawan announced they would support Narayanan for a second term in view of the security scenario in the country.

This is seen as significant since the

role of the smaller parties within and outside NDA would be vital for electing a President, considering the configuration of the electoral college. Chandrashekhar, speaking in Kolkata, asked political parties to reach a consensus for a second term for Narayanan, observing that among all the names that have cropped up, ‘‘he (Narayanan) is the most suitable for the highest office of the land.’’

Almost on the same lines, Paswan said in the capital that his LJP has appealed to all parties to support Narayanan for a second term. ‘‘At a time when clouds of war are looming large over the country, we need a President who is experienced and Narayanan fits the bill,’’ Paswan said, adding that the party’s national executive had passed a resolution to this effect.

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