By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday rejected the proposal by the regional United New Progressive Alliance (UNPA) to support President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for a second term in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The leaders of UNPA or Third Front, who have been campaigning for another five-year term for Kalam, met CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat at his party headquarters here hoping to persuade him to back the incumbent president.
However, Karat reportedly told them that the CPI-M-led Left parties had already clarified that they did not believe in giving a second term for the president. No one, except India's first president Rajendra Prasad, has had a second term.
UNPA leaders including Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N. Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav will meet Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar during the day to seek support for Kalam.
The ruling Congress has refused to support Kalam.
Kalam, who had earlier maintained that he would not contest again without a national consensus, told a UNPA delegation Wednesday that he was willing to be a candidate if victory was assured.
After the UNPA leaders' meeting, the Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said: "The president observed that as there is overwhelming love and affection of the people from all sections of society and all parts of the country, I can accept a second term of presidency provided there is certainty about this."
But given the present arithmetic in the electoral college that elects the president, Kalam is not assured of majority support.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left-Bahujan Samaj Party combine, which accounts for most voters, has declared Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil's name for the post.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, which had thrown its weight behind Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, has expressed its willingness to support Kalam if there was "consensus" on his name. But NDA member Shiv Sena is not ready to prop up Kalam.
The NDA has 354,689 votes while the Third Front grouping has 105,225 votes.