New Delhi: At a time when the government needs her support for its candidate for President of India, Mamata Banerjee has reached 7 Race Course Road to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the finances of her state, West Bengal. Ms Banerjee wants the government to suspend the thousands of crores that West Bengal owes as interest on loans granted by the Centre.
Ms Banerjee, who is a major ally in the UPA coalition at the Centre, has so far been coy about who she wants as the UPA's candidate for the President of India. The election will be held next month. Yesterday, she said that it's important to find a candidate who evokes political consensus. She also suggested that her stand could be influenced by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who heads the Samajwadi Party and provides external support to the UPA. Privately, however, she has reportedly conveyed to the Congress that she will go along with whoever the coalition selects as its choice.
Mr Yadav has been hinting that he may prefer Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee over vice-president Hamid Ansari as the UPA's candidate. These are the front-runners, as selected by the Congress, though the party's president Sonia Gandhi said yesterday that no name has been finalised. Mr Yadav said today that, "It does not matter whether the Presidential candidate is from minority community, backward or scheduled caste." Yesterday, he said he would like to see "a political person" as President. Both remarks are being interpreted as support for Mr Mukherjee.
Mr Mukherjee has denied that he is emerging as the first choice of the Congress and its allies for June's election for the President of India. "It is speculative. I don't want to comment on it," the Finance Minister told reporters on his way to Manila where he will attend the 45th Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank's Board of Governors.
The Congress has been consulting its allies carefully to ensure they are on board ahead of the election. Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, another partner in the UPA, today said that no names have been shared with him by the Congress and that his party has therefore not taken a decision on the presidential election. While Mr Pawar would not speculate on names, another UP ally Ajit Singh said, "We have no objection to whoever the Congress decides on. Pranab Mukherjee is a good candidate. Hamid Ansari too is an able administrator.
It is Ms Banerjee who has proven herself to be the unpredictable ally, capable of taking on the Congress publicly over major policy decisions. She remains opposed to the new National Counter Terrorism Centre or NCTC, whose mandate has provoked furious criticism from non-Congress states. Ms Banerjee has been among its most vocal critics, accusing it of having powers that undermine federalism and autonomy of state governments like hers.
A meeting headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram is aimed at winning over chief ministers like Ms Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, and Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu. The government has, in response to their opposition, diluted the powers of search and arrest for officials of the NCTC. Now, they will have to keep state police officers and anti-terror squads in the loop.
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