By Arvind Padmanabhan, IANS,
On Board Air India One: Despite sharp differences over the choice of candidate for president, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said that the Trinamool Congress “still” remained an ally.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from the G20 and Rio+20 summits in Mexico and Brazil, the prime minister said had spoken to all political parties to support Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as next president.
“As far as the Trinamol Congress is concerned, Trinamol Congress is still part of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance),” the prime minister said about the ally, which had proposed its own candidate.
“I have still not given up hope that Trinamol Congress will also find its way to support the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee,” the prime minister added.
(Arvind Padmanabhan can be reached at [email protected])