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Presidential race : UPA has reason to smile

	May 28, 2007

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, on her first visit to New Delhi after assuming office, met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss various issues concerning the state. She met Sonia Gandhi over tea on May 25. A day later, the Prime Minister hosted a lunch for her where Sonia Gandhi was also present.



While it is apparent that the Congress is wooing Mayawati for her support to the UPA’s candidate in the presidential polls, the BSP chief is keeping her cards close to her chest. At a news conference on May 25, Mayawati was tightlipped on the question, who will her choice for the Presidential election. She said that she will decide the matter after consultations. “The National executive is meeting this evening (May 25).” She said, “it is only after consultations with my party leaders that I can come to a decision.”



On persistent queries, Mayawati finally snapped, “We are a democratic party, I cannot say anything until I have consulted everyone. It is an important issue, we will dwell on it and make a choice carefully. I will reveal my cards then.”



However, it was Mayawati and her new trusted confidant, BSP MP Satish Mishra, who went to have tea with Sonia. “The Congress president invited me, and I have accepted,” she had said earlier.



The Chief Minister drove into 10 Janpath, and spent more than 50 minutes with Sonia and Congress strategist Ahmed Patel.



While Mayawati did not stop to meet the Press waiting outside and sources said she brought no new name to the table, indications are that she is willing to go along with the UPA’s choice of candidate clearing the way for a UPA-Left-BSP choice.



At the press conference itself, she made it clear that she would continue to support the UPA from outside as nothing had changed after her victory.



“We supported the Congress-led UPA coalition at the Centre to keep communal forces out even when we were in opposition, why should it change now ?” Sources also said that there is no question of Mayawati proposing a name for the Vice President’s post a rumour swirling in the last few days. “She knows her limitations,” said a BSP source.



The national executive meeting held on Friday night authorised Mayawati to take the final decision on the BSP’s stance on the presidential poll.



Observers say that prospects of the BSP supporting the UPA in the presidential race have brightened with Mayawati talking of ending the bitterness between the Centre and the State. At the meeting with the Prime Minister on May 26, Mayawati reportedly said that Uttar Pradesh had suffered immensely because of the confrontationist attitude of the previous Mulayam Singh Government for ‘political and personal reasons.’ Mayawati reportedly said, “For the last three years, development works in Uttar Pradesh were at a standstill because of the bitter relations it had with the Centre. This resulted in huge losses to the State during the last regime and created hurdles in resource generation.”



Dr. Singh assured full cooperation with her government and promised all assistance to the State. The Chief Minister said she apprised the Prime Minister of the situation in the State and promised that politics would not be allowed to come in the way of development. She sought funds for balanced growth and overall development including in key infrastructural areas such as power, roads, tourism and development of an international airport.



Mayawati sought a Rs.15,000 crore soft infrastructure loan for the state. She also sought assistance for the development of an international airport at Jewar near Aligarh, inclusion of the State in the national Buddhist circuit, assistance for coal-based power plants, and speedy approvals to pending projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Renewal Mission.



The question of the UPA’s candidate for the presidency is expected to come up at a meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi today, May 28.





CPI(M) to explore all options



CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said in New Delhi on May 26 that the party will explore all options to select the most suitable candidate for President in consultation with the UPA and other parties. Addressing a news conference at the end of the two-day meeting of the party politburo, he said, “The Left parties have set out the criteria that the person occupying the post of President must have a political background and firm secular credentials. The future President must be able to exercise judgement to maintain a balance between Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary.





Kalam out of the race



President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is virtually out of the race for a second stint in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who has been authorised by the NDA to select the opposition candidate for the presidential election said on May 22, “We have conveyed to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that a consensus could not be evolved on a second term for him.” The disclosure was the first official admission by the NDA that it has given up on Kalam and favoured another candidate, possibly Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.



Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav said in New Delhi on May 23 that his party endorsed former Prime Minister Vajpayee’s view on a consensus presidential candidate. He said, the UPA, the ruling coalition, should take an initiative on this.