By IANS
Raipur : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh Tuesday said that if political parties evolve a consensus on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for a second term, his party would support him.
"Parties should work for evolving a consensus for a second straight term for President Kalam, if he (Kalam) expresses interest, and if a consensus is achieved, the BJP will go for Kalam," Singh told newsmen here Tuesday.
The presidential election is due next month. Vice-President Bhairon Singh Sekhawat, who is being supported by the BJP and its allies, has already made it clear that he will withdraw if there is a consensus on Kalam.
The BJP president was in Raipur Tuesday on a daylong visit to attend a core committee meeting of the Chhattisgarh unit of the party that rules the state.
Along with several senior state unit leaders, including Chief Minister Raman Singh and state unit party chief Vishnu Deo Sai, Rajnath Singh held detailed discussions to firm up strategy to retain power in the state, where polls are scheduled in late 2008.
The core committee also took stock of individual performances of 12 ministers of the Raman Singh government and discussed the possibility of inducting new faces in the council of ministers to replace under-performing ministers.