Responding for the first time to rival PA Sangma's repeated salvos since campaign for presidential elections have begun, UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukerjee on Wednesday said the Rashrapati Bhavan (president's house) was not a dumping yard for failed ministers.
Arriving Bhubaneswar in the evening on his campaign trail, Mukherjee said he would not be able to comment whether he failed or succeeded when his attention was drawn to Sangma's remark on Tuesday that Mukherjee was a "failed" finance minister and the Congress was dumping him at Raisina Hill.

"Surely, posterity will judge it (my performance). But Rashtrapati Bhavan is not a dumping yard. Such sort of phrases should not be used," Mukherjee told reporters before his departure for New Delhi following an interaction with Congress MPs, MLAs.

On the controversy over his resignation from the Indian Statistical Institute, Mukherjee said all those issues had to be debated, discussed in the forum of the returning officer and those phases were over. "The election commission has also given a detailed report (rejecting Sangma's petition)," he said.

Realising that numbers were on his side, Mukherjee however kept away from attacking his presidential rival.

Mukherjee said since Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced his candidature for the post of President, many UPA and non-UPA political parties had extended support to him.

He hoped to get the support of Trinamul Congress led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. "Some political parties have not taken a decision yet and TMC is one of them. I understand the TMC leaders have stated that they will take a decision three/ four days before the election. I am waiting for that," Mukherjee said.