Cong lobbies non-UPA parties for help

Point your mobile to: http://m.ibnlive.com

New Delhi: Faced with the prospect of a neck-and-neck battle in the race for Rashtrapati Bhawan, the UPA has launched an aggressive campaign, reaching out to non-UPA parties in an effort to consolidate the support base in favour of its candidate Pratibha Patil.

While the NDA has repeatedly spurned UPA's appeal for consensus around the senior Congress leader, the ruling alliance is now hoping to rope in some of the so-called Third Front parties, which seem to be divided among themselves on the issue at the moment.

The UPA has specifically deputed Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi to meet non-UPA partners from June 18 onwards and try and consolidate more votes in favour of Pratibha Patil. The Third Front is likely to announce its stand on the Presidential election on June 18.

The first Third Front party that the UPA is trying to reach out to is Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled meet SP leader Amar Singh on Saturday to try and win over the party to his camp.

In fact, the Prime Minister is trying hard to reach out to all non-UPA parties, including even Shiv Sena. Earlier this week, the PM had appealed to even NDA to work towards a consensus candidate for the post of President. The NDA though has ruled out such an option and made it clear that it will fight the UPA nominee in the election.

The PM's meeting with the SP assumes significance as Samajwadi Party has the biggest chunk of votes after Mayawati's BSP, which has already sided with the Congress. The Congress is also planning to speak to JD-S leader Deve Gowda and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh.

The Congress and SP really haven’t had the best of equations in the past 10 years. Yet, there is an impression in the political quarters that the SP top brass is in a dilemma right now even though initially they tried to take a tough stand against the Congress candidate.

SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh are reportedly still undecided as to whether they should be openly backing a candidate sponsored by the NDA — in the form of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat — which may mean sailing in the same boat with the BJP.

At the same time, the party also doesn't want to get into a position where it is forced to support Congress candidate Pratibha Patil. The Third Front — which is led by Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi party or Jayalalitha’s AIADMK, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, Ajit Singh's RLD, INLD and others — is also believed to be considering the option of looking at a different candidate.

The NDA camp, on the other hand, received a shot in the arm on Friday when former prime minister Chandra Shekhar threw his weight behind Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The ex-PM also issued a written appeal, endorsing the Shekhawat's candidature for presidentship.