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Countdown to Mamata’s dramatic announcement

By IANS,

Here’s the rundown to Wednesday’s dramatic announcement on the presidential poll:

June 12, Tuesday

— 4.30 p.m.: Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives in the national capital, a day ahead of her meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the July 19 presidential polls.

— 5 p.m.: After landing in Delhi, she heads straight to the residence of another key United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ally Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

— Aims to create a pressure group within the Congress-led UPA.

— 6.30 p.m.: Banerjee says she will again meet Yadav after meeting Gandhi Wednesday to finalise strategy.

June 13, Wednesday

— 4.30 p.m.: Banerjee meets Gandhi.

— 5.30 p.m.: Announces that the Congress prefers Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President M. Hamid Ansari for the high office.

— 6 p.m.: Banerjee meets Yadav.

— 6.55 p.m.: She announces names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee as potential candidates for the presidential polls.

— In a way, rules out candidature of Mukherjee, the most-preferred Congress candidate.