Veteran Congressman and chief government troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee is all set to be India’s next President, with the UPA formally announcing his candidature and the supporting parties swiftly endorsing it.

This will lead to the marginalisation of the Trinamul Congress if its leader Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister, continues to oppose a fellow Bengali’s elevation to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A divided Opposition is yet to decide if it will put up a candidate against Mukherjee. Some sections of the BJP, JD(U) and the Left appear inclined to supporting Mukherjee.

The Samajwadi Party’s Friday U-turn ended the suspense. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier pushed the candidacy of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, along with Mamata Banerjee, sending a clear message that he would not back a Congress nominee (read Pranab Mukherjee). But behind-the-scenes talks led to a shift.

The SP is known to strike deals with rivals in crises: in July 2008 it helped the Manmohan Singh government win a Lok Sabha confidence vote after the Left withdrew support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi announced the 77-year-old veteran Congressman’s name leader at a meeting of all UPA parties, minus Trinamul, Friday morning. She praised his 'long and distinguished record of public service over five decades', and urged all parties to support him.

Within minutes, the SP distanced itself from Trinamul and pledged support to Mukherjee. This was followed by Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also extending support. This takes Mukherjee close to the required vote value of 5.49 lakhs in an electoral college of MPs and MLAs with a total vote value of 10.98 lakhs.

If the TMC (vote value 48,000) is counted out, Mukherjee is short by about 26,000 votes, which is expected to be made up by other parties, possibly including the Left.

Also, Dr Kalam is highly unlikely to contest, making it a virtual cakewalk for Mr Mukherjee. Immediately after being nominated, Mukherjee expressed his gratitude to Mrs Sonia Gandhi and other UPA leaders for the honour which he accepted with “all humility”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost no time in reaching out to other parties, including the BJP, to seek support for Mr Mukherjee.

Dr Singh first called up Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, and then spoke to top BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari to seek Opposition support for Mukherjee as President.

Samajwadi Party claims credit for Pranab nomination

Despite its dramatic U-turn and leaving West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee high and dry, the Samajwadi Party on Friday rushed to claim credit for Pranab Mukherjee’s nomination as the UPA candidate for President.

The SP claimed the UPA should thank its general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav for 'pressuring the Congress to name Mukherjee as its presidential candidate'.

“The UPA should thank SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav for putting pressure on the Congress to finally name Mukherjee as its candidate for President,” said SP national secretary Rajesh Dixit.

It appears the SP’s dramatic U-turn, after suggesting the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for the presidential election, was scripted following a hard bargain by Ram Gopal Yadav with Congress interlocutors.

The SP leaders said Yadav enjoys a good rapport with Mukherjee. Yadav, also a cousin of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, is known to call the shots in the party.

While the SP chief refused to respond to media speculation on whether the party would join the UPA following the possible exit of the Trinamul Congress, sources said the Congress had promised the party regular consultations on key policy issues.