President poll: PM seeks BJP, Trinamool Congress support for Pranab Mukherjee's candidature

On Board PM's Aircraft: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed hope that the Trinamool Congress will support Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the Presidential election. He said he has also spoken to few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to extend their support to Mukherjee.

"I rang up LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley requesting them to work with the government and the ruling coalition to ensure that one of these elections takes place unitedly," said the Prime Minister.

Singh also insisted that the Trinamool Congress is still a part of the UPA and the government has not given up hope on getting its support for Mukherjee's candidature.

Manmohan Singh insists that the government has not given up hope on getting Trinamool Congress\'s support for Pranab Mukherjee\'s candidature.

About who will be the next Finance Minister after Mukherjee resigns from the post, Singh declined to give names. "I have been churning it in my mind," he said.

Asked whether there is going to be a Cabinet reshuffle soon and whether new partners will be joining the UPA soon, the Prime Minister replied "I think that is a legitimate expectation. You will get to know about it when it takes place."

(With additional inputs from PTI)

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