Third Front for Kalam's continuance in top post

Chennai, June 18 (UNI) The newly launched Third Front, christened the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), today decided to back President A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term.

After a marathon two-hour meeting, the Front, in its crucial conclave convened by AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence here, sprang a surprise by favouring the candidature of Dr Kalam.

Setting at rest speculation that it might nominate former Tamil Nadu Governor M Fathima Beevi or National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, the Front chose the present incumbent saying ''we are unable to think of anyone else other than Dr Kalam who is acceptable to all political parties and by all sections of the society.'' The Front, which deliberated on three options, whether to support a candidate already in the fray (Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, an independent backed by the BJP-led NDA), nominate its own candidate or abstain from voting, is believed to have failed to reach a consensus on its Presidential nominee.

Mr Shekhawat, though entering the fray as an independent, was unacceptable to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu as he had the BJP tag and supporting him would seriously affect the Muslim vote banks in their respective States -- Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

It appears that the Front, which had a vote bank share of just over one lakh votes in the electoral college, was preparing the ground for abstaining from voting, as it plumbed on Dr Kalam who had already made it clear that he was not interested in a second term.

''We will seek an appointment with Dr Kalam and persuade him to accept a second term...we will talk to him and appeal to him to change his mind in the interest of the nation,'' Ms Jayalalithaa told the post-conclave press conference.

''Let us see what transpires. Let's wait and see the outcome of our appeal,'' was her reaction, when asked what would happen if Dr Kalam refused to accept a second term.

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