President poll: SP flip flop, says Kalam is Mamata's candidate

New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party on Friday said that the party neither wanted early Lok Sabha elections nor wanted to topple the government on the question of President poll. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav also said that the party would not join the UPA government and added said that former president APJ Abdul Kalam was only Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's choice.

On being asked if Kalam was the joint candidate of the two parties, Ram Gopal said, "'Hamara' could also mean 'mera'," indicating only Mamata was committing on Kalam till now.

When asked about whether the party will support Pranab Mukherjee's candidature, he said, "Mulayam Singh Yadav will decide whether SP will back Pranab."

The Samajwadi Party on Friday said that it neither wanted early Lok Sabha polls nor wanted to topple the government.

Mamata had on Thursday met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and said that Kalam was their presidential candidate. However, Mulayam did not come out to address the media after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Presidential elections at 12 noon on Friday. Pranab Mukherjee will also attend the UPA meet on the Presidential elections at 4 pm on Friday.

The Congress sources have claimed that Mulayam has assured them his party's support for their Presidential candidate.

Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal and Naresh Agarwal met Mulayam on Friday to discuss the Presidential candidate. Sources say Agarwal has been the main negotiator between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress on the Presidential poll. Congress leaders Rajiv Shukla and Digvijaya Singh are among the main interlocutors, say sources.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)