APJ Abdul Kalam

BJP undecided, Jethmalani says he may contest

New Delhi: 8:20 PM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) core group meeting ends without any decision on the Presidential poll. The BJP calls a meeting of the NDA members at the residence of senior leader L K Advani at 11 am on Friday. BJP spokesperson Ananth Kumar says the talks are still on and senior leaders like Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and L K Advani are in discussion with the...  

President poll: Trinamool calls Mulayam a traitor

Kolkata: Terming Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav a "traitor" after his party's about-turn in extending support to union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for president, the Trinamool Congress leadership on Friday said they are still hopeful about having a consensus on APJ Abdul Kalam as the next president of India. "We all know that Mamata Banerjee sticks to whatever she says. Now it is for the people of...  

Mamata explains support for Kalam on Facebook

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now taken her fight for APJ Abdul Kalam to be the President of India online. Mamata launched her official Facebook page on Friday night and she used her first post on the social networking site to explain why she was still rooting for Kalam. Mamata wrote in her first post, "We in the Trinamool Congress support Dr...  

'Kalam's name in President race has led to chaos'

Chennai: Key UPA ally DMK on Friday said naming of APJ Abdul Kalam in the Presidential race has led to chaos and reaffirmed its support to the Congress' candidate. "Kalam in Tamil also means chaos. Anyhow, chaos has broken out in the Presidential election," DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi said when asked about TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's insistence on Kalam for the top post. He, however, said DMK will not go...  

Is Pranab Mukherjee the best man for the President's post?

The Finance Minister appealed to all political parties to support his candidature for the Presidential poll. ...

Kalam won't be contesting against Pranab: Sources

Sources said that APJ Abdul Kalam has decided not to contest against UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee for the Presidential post. ...

Mamata says game is on, sticks with Kalam

New Delhi: 8.45 pm: Following her meeting with her close aides, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee says she will talk on the Presidential poll on Saturday. She further says, "Today is just the beginning." The West Bengal Chief sticks to APJ Abdul Kalam, saying she does not change her stand, adding she cannot speak anything about Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh. 8.22 pm: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel formally requests...  

Pranab Mukherjee: Cong's 'man for all seasons'

New Delhi: Hailed as the party's chief troubleshooter and a 'man for all seasons', the veteran warhorse Pranab Mukherjee finds himself in the middle of a new battle. As the race to the Rashtrapati Bhawan heats up, all eyes are on the 76-year-old leader from West Bengal - undoubtedly one of the most charismatic political survivors in India - on how he fights what is perhaps the last and the...  

President poll: Left to decide on June 21

New Delhi: The Left Front will wait for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to officially announce its candidate for the President poll before taking a decision, sources said on Friday. Sources said that the Left Front would announce its stand on June 21 after a formal meeting of the Communist leadership. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's candidature is not favoured by the Left parties and they would oppose him. They...  

Mamata must go by UPA's choice: Dinesh Trivedi

Dinesh Trivedi, the Trinamool Congress MP who was forced to quit Railway Ministry by Mamata Banerjee, now blames her for crossing coalition limits and not going by the UPA's choice of the Presidential nominee. ...

Live: UPA names Pranab, Kalam may not contest

New Delhi: 5.25 pm: The Left congratulates Pranab, but says its stand will be decided during their meeting. Brinda Karat says, "We congratulate Pranab Mukherjee for the nomination but we shall decide our stand post meeting." 5:20 pm: Less than an hour after the UPA declared Pranab Mukherjee as its official candidate, the Samajwadi Party announced its support for his candidature in the Presidential poll. 5:18 PM: TMC is not...  

President poll: JD(U) won't propose names alone

New Delhi: JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Friday made it clear that his party will not be proposing the name of any candidate for the Presidential poll and said it will go with the collective choice on the issue. There had been indication from JD(U) earlier that the party finds "unusual" the proposal to advance the name of APJ Abdul Kalam for the poll. A party leader, speaking on condition...  

NDA meet ends, no decision on candidate

New Delhi: 12:45 pm: The NDA remained undecided on its Presidential candidate after a meeting at senior leader LK Advani's residence on Friday morning. Advani said the meeting was not to decide anything but to analyse the situation. "Today's meeting was not to decide anything. It was to analyse the situation going on and to discuss the further strategy," Advani said. Advani said that the BJP was in touch with...  

Pranab, Kalam neck and neck on committed votes

New Delhi: If the committed votes to both the alliances - UPA and NDA - are any indication, the race to the Raisina Hill on Friday turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat photo finish with rapid developments and flip-flops. While UPA with its allies has been able to garner 37.6 per cent of the total votes needed, NDA along with former UPA ally, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool, and others has already...  

Mulayam is with TMC on President poll: Mamata

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Friday that the Samajwadi Party was with her on President poll. Reiterating her stand that her party would support former president APJ Abdul Kalam she added that there should be no politics over President's post. Mulayam and I are still together. Kalam will contest. I congratulate Kalamji in advance. There should not be any politics over...  

I don't think Kalam will contest, says Sangma

New Delhi: 12:30 pm: NCP leader PA Sangma made it clear that he won't withdraw from the Presidential race, but at the same time hinted that APJ Abdul Kalam may not contest the Presidential election. "I don't think Kalam will contest. Kalam will not take a risk again," Sangma said. "I am not standing as the NCP candidate but as the candidate of the 10 crore 'Adiwasi' population," Sangma added....  

President poll: SP may support UPA's candidate

New Delhi: Ahead of UPA's meeting on Friday evening, talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) gained momentum over the possibility of Mulayam Singh Yadav's support to the ruling dispensation candidate for the Presidential poll. Sources in the Samajwadi Party said that Yadav, his cousin and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and another senior leader Naresh Aggarwal have held at least five rounds of discussion with the...  

Presidential poll: Smaller allies key to majority

New Delhi: It was a sharp counter punch from the Congress. A day after Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee teamed up with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav to corner the Congress, not only did the party reject outright all their candidates for presidency, but they read out the riot act to Mamata too. Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi said, "Usually in these matters names are not disclosed. Other allies also...  

Key NDA ally Nitish invites Kalam for lunch

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has invited former President APJ Abdul Kalam for lunch on Friday. Nitish Kumar had also gone to receive APJ Abdul Kalam at the Patna airport on Thursday. Sources say Kalam has accepted his invitation. According to sources, Nitish has said that the NDA is yet to decide on whether Kalam will be their preferred candidate. There were reports on Thursday that Trinamool Congress...