NDA to decide on their Presidential candidate

New Delhi, May 15: National Democratic Alliance leaders will meet at former Prime Minister Atal Bihari' Vajpayee's residence this evening to take a final view about fielding their Presidential candidate, BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

The BJP-led NDA is the second biggest combination in the country, being in power in nine states after the UPA, but the poor show of the BJP in the recently concluded assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has proved to be a dampner. Initially, it was believed that the NDA might favour a second term for President A P J Abdul Kalam, but their attempts did not get a favourable response from him.

Left parties have propped up the name of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for the presidency, while the Congress has its own choices for the job making it tougher for a common consensus candidate.

This leaves them with very little choice except to field Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and hope he succeeds in enlisting support from supporters transcending political parties.

The NDA besides BJP has parties like Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Janata Dal (United), Biju Janata Dal and Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee in its alliance.

UNI