Journalism of Courage
As multiple names are thrown into the presidential poll ring,the Samajwadi Party is learnt to be lobbying for none other than its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. According to sources,SP emissaries have been sounding out other parties on support for Mulayam.
The SP has the most votes among the regional parties in the presidential election,and the party calculates that the smaller parties will be only too happy to have someone who belongs to neither the Congress nor the BJP in the top post. Were regional parties to put up a name,the Congress may also back him/her as it lacks the numbers to get a candidate elected on its own,the SP believes.
Mulayam distanced himself from party colleague Shahid Siddiquis comments favouring former president A P J Abdul Kalam. It may be his personal view but the party has not decided yet, Mulayam told reporters in Delhi. Siddiqui himself claimed the media had distorted his remarks. I was asked by the media and I had said that if there is a consensus on Kalam,then we will support him. I have not suggested his name, he told reporters in Parliament House complex. There is no consensus in the party,the party has not taken any decision and the party has not even considered any name, Siddiqui added.
While SP Rajya Sabha MP Kiranmoy Nanda recently met West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Bannerjee,senior party leader Ramgopal Yadav is said to be in touch with the Left on the matter. Feelers have reportedly also been sent to NCP chief Sharad Pawar,AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa and BJD chief and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik.
Mulayam is said to be keen to occupy the post given his advancing years he will be 75 by the time of the 2014 general election and the realisation that there is little chance of him becoming the prime minister. He has been the countrys defence minister,missed being the PM in 1997,and has already passed on the baton in Uttar Pradesh to son Akhilesh. A stint in the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be a fitting climax to his political career,Mulayam is said to believe.
Now Netaji cannot be the CM. He can try for the PMs chair,but this cannot be guaranteed. So the best option left is to make an attempt to enter the Rashtrapati Bhavan, said a senior SP leader.
