Former President today issued a statement after Trinamool Congress
chief Mamata Banerjee and BJP, wanted him to contest for president poll,
former President A P J Abdul Kalam has announced that he would not
contest the Presidential poll against UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
Issuing a formal announcement on Monday, he said he had taken the
decision after considering “the totality of this matter and the present
political situation”.
Kalam, who was propped up by Trinamool as a nominee for the Presidential poll to be held on 19th
July, said, “though I have never aspired to serve another term or shown
interest in contesting the elections”, Mamata Banerjee and other
political parties wanted me to be the candidate.
“Many, many citizens have also expressed the same wish. It only
reflects their love and affection for me and the aspiration of the
people. I am really overwhelmed by this support,” his statement said.
“This being their wish, I respect it. I want to thank them for the
trust they have in me,” he said, adding, “I have considered the totality
of this matter and the present political situation, and decided not to
contest the Presidential election 2012.”
After Mamata pushed his candidature, breaking ranks with UPA over
the issue, BJP also tried hard to persuade him to contest as
Opposition’s common candidate against Mukherjee.
BJP leader L K Advani called him thrice and sent his close aide
Sudheendra Kulkarni twice to convince him. However, he made clear to
Advani that his conscience is not permitting him to contest, sources
said.
The former President has been insisting that he could consider entering the fray only if there was surety about his victory.
Several opposition leaders talked to Kalam over phone on Sunday to know about his plans.
BJP was more in favour of fielding Kalam than former Lok Sabha
Speaker P A Sangma, who is AIADMK Chief J Jayalalithaa and BJD head
Naveen Patnaik’s choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment