Somnath for Pranab Mukherjee as President

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today said he would be happy if Pranab Mukherjee is elected President unanimously and that A P J Abdul Kalam should not contest considering his stature as former President.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday said he would be happy if Pranab Mukherjee is elected President unanimously and that A P J Abdul Kalam should not contest considering his stature as former President.

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"I will be happy if Pranab Mukherjee is elected President unanimously. But what is the value of my opinion?" Chatterjee told a Bengali TV channel from London.

"I felicitated Pranab Mukherjee by sending a message but I don't know whether it will come to his notice," he said.

Asked about the possibility of Kalam joining the fray, he said "I don't know whose candidate he will be. But I think that considering his position as former President, he should not contest."

He said ideally political parties should invite someone to be President. "But in our country, it does not happen".

To a question about his name being mentioned by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam SIngh Yadav a few days ago as a Presidential candidate, Chatterjee said "in that event, should I be staying in London now?"