By IANS
New Delhi : Congress president Sonia Gandhi Thursday discussed the party's strategy for the coming presidential elections with members of the Congress Working Committee, party chief ministers and other leaders.
At the meeting, also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gandhi formally introduced party candidate Pratibha Patil, saying she could be the "first woman president." She urged them to work to ensure her victory in the July 19 polls.
Patil, who Thursday resigned as governor of Rajasthan, thanked Congress leaders for their support. She is expected to file her nomination on Saturday after which she will tour the country as part of her campaign.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and his deputy minister Suresh Pachauri explained the broad poll strategy to the members during the meeting, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes.
Asked about the Congress not supporting the candidature of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for a second term, party spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had not supported late K.R. Narayanan for a second term saying that a president should not get another term.
"We had supported Kalam when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) put him up as presidential candidate. Now, BJP should support our candidate. If they are supporting Kalam, it is for their own political purposes. We don't want to get into this," he said.