Pranab Mukherjee qualified to be President: Ajit Singh

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Wednesday described Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as a "qualified" candidate for the post of President but said his views on others were equally positive.

"The Finance Minister is qualified for President. My views are positive on him, but my views are positive on others as well", Singh said after a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram. He was responding to a question about the election to the highest Constitutional post and the possibility of Mukherjee's candidature for it.

Singh said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi would take a call on the candidate of Presidential poll in consultations with UPA allies. The Civil Aviation Minister had on Tuesday met Sonia to discuss political issues, including the upcoming Presidential elections.

The Civil Aviation Minister made the statement on Wednesday after meeting Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The RLD chief also said he had discussed with the Home Minister the forthcoming Presidential election and on providing OBC status to the Jat community for getting jobs in Central government. The Civil Aviation Minister said he would soon meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss on FDI in aviation.

"We will talk to Mamata and we will talk to DMK. We have already talked to NCP", Singh told reporters in Delhi. Singh said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting on infrastructure later in the day.

"We will discuss a lot of issues, including on road transport, coal and civil aviation ministries which are pending and need to be cleared, besides how to stimulate economy", he said. Singh said the whole world was facing economic problems -- there was problem in the European Union and many people have lost jobs in the United States in the recent months.

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