Mamata Banerjee faces biggest insult from Abdul Kalam?

New Delhi, Jun 18: Trinamool Congress chief

must be very upset with APJ Abdul Kalam's announcement that he will not contest in the upcoming presidential election which is going to be held on Jul 19.

The statement of Dr Kalam - "I've never aspired to serve a second term (as the President)" might have broken Mamata Banerjee's heart. The TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister was the sole person who was fighting alone to generate support for Kalam for the race to Raisina Hill.

Despite facing several hurdles on her way, Mamata Banerjee took her campaigning for Kalam in a much more broader way. She launched her official Facebook page for this purpose and used the popular social networking site to air her views on why she roots for Kalam as President.

Sources earlier had reported that Trinamool Congress was ready to approach NDA in garnering support for the former President of India. Now, it seems that Mamata Banerjee would be the most depressed person whom Kalam has let down through his official announcement of not contesting in the poll.

In a statement, the former President pointed out that "though I have never aspired to serve another term or shown interest in contesting the elections", the Trinamool Congress and other political parties "wanted me" to be the candidate.

"Many, many citizens have also expressed the same wish. It only reflects their love and affection for me and the aspiration of the people. I am really overwhelmed by this support. This being their wish, I respect it. I want to thank them for the trust they have in me," he said.

"I have considered the totality of the matter and the present political situation, and decided not to contest the Presidential elections 2012," Kalam added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party had proposed three names including that of Kalam on Jun 13.

Though the latter changed his stand a day later, the Trinamool Congress supremo continued to back Kalam even after the UPA, of which her party is a constituent, announced that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is their candidate.

The opposition too tried to convince Kalam to contest and BJP leaders met him several times in this connection. However, all these efforts by Mamata and several other party leaders seem to have gone in vain.

OneIndia News