Talks on to decide candidate: Pranab

A meeting late on Saturday evening between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union External Affairs Minister...

A meeting late on Saturday evening between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union External Affairs Minister and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee at the latter8217;s South Kolkata residence triggered speculation about talks on a presidential candidate.

At the end of the 45-minute meeting, Bhattacharjee decided to drive away without making a statement. Mukherjee said the two did not talk about a presidential nominee, but disclosed that 8220;Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked Shivraj Patil, A K Anthony and him to deliberate and discuss the issue with various UPA partners and others who support the coalition8221;.

8220;Following this, I have had talks with Anbumani Ramadoss, Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad Yadav till now. But I had no discussion with Buddha in this regard,8221; Mukherjee said and added

8220;we will have further talks in this regard once the Prime Minister is back from the G8 summit.8221;

The External Affairs Minister said he discussed the issue of Bhutan refugees with the West Bengal Chief Minister. The refugees are now holed up in Nepal.

8220;Nepal claims that these are not Nepalese citizens and Bhutan is also not ready to accept them. The refugees want to enter Bhutan and they want to pass through the Indian territory,8221; said Mukherjee.

8220;Bhattacharjee told me that it was creating serious law and order situation in Bengal and it was unacceptable to the state Government,8221; he added.

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8220;The Bengal chief minister has urged me to initiate a dialogue with these two countries. Both are our friendly neighbours. The issue of Bhutan refugees cropped up 11 years ago and as far as I know there are about 100,000 refugees in camps. The population of Bhutan is about 600,000. If these 100,000 people enter Bhutan it would create a demographic imbalance,8221; Mukherjee said. 8220;The Government of India is trying to work out a solution. It is an international problem.8221;