Pranab Mukherjee for president to be official on 13th

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi will announce on June 13 the UPA candidate for the presidential election, DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin told reporters at the airport on arrival from New Delhi in the early hours of Friday.

“UPA chief Sonia Gandhi will make the announcement on June 13 regarding our candidate for the presidential election. Some names are under active consideration,” he said.

Stalin said he paid courtesy visits to Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his stay in the national capital.

Interestingly, he also called on Pranab Mukherjee later. Stalin presented him a gold-laced shawl in a gesture clearly suggesting the Union finance minister would be the UPA candidate for Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Strengthening this premise was a meeting Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel had with Mukherjee at his North Block office Friday.

Apart from DMK, Congress has the support of UPA members NCP and RJD for its presidential nominee, besides outside allies such as Samajwadi Party.

BSP, another outside supporter, and UPA’s second-largest constituent Trinamul Congress are also unlikely to oppose Sonia Gandhi’s candidate.

On the other side of the fence, former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma, named by AIADMK and BJD, met BJP leader L.K. Advani Friday to seek NDA support for his presidential bid.

An agency report from New Delhi said Ms Sonia was likely to announce the UPA candidate for President around June 15, a couple of days after Election Commission issues the notification.