Advani, Jayalalithaa to 'coordinate' on presidential polls

Chennai - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K. Advani Thursday said his party will "coordinate efforts" with the AIADMK over the July 19 presidential polls.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa's here, Advani said they had "discussed at length" the possibilities on who would be the next president.

"All the issues have been discussed and we agreed that we will continue to be in touch and coordinate our efforts," Advani said.

Jayalalithaa said "we have discussed about the presidential election," but had nothing "specific to add".

Both leaders blamed the Congress for the clumsy handling of the polls.

"The recent events in Delhi, these have made the situation very dicey. I have never seen any earlier government handling an important election like that of the president so clumsily. So far as we are concerned, we are conscious of the fact that Congress and the UPA government are not able to build a consensus on the president even in its own camp," Advani said.

"We will coordinate and see that the decision for the country is taken properly," he added.

Jayalalithaa added: "That is true, the events of yesterday showed the entire exercise have been botched very badly by the Congress."

She also said she did not want to "indulge in any kind of speculation" as no names had come out officially.

Responding to a query on whether he and Jayalalithaa had discussed Kalam's candidature, Advani said "all names figured".

Noting that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would be meeting Friday, Advani added that "it was not unlikely" that the constituents would say the Congress should first decide on its presidential candidate.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said Wednesday that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari were the Congress' first and second choices for president. An hour later, after a meeting with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh, she put forth the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

On Thursday, an upset Congress said it could not afford to spare Manmohan Singh and also rejected Kalam and Chatterjee for the presidential poll.

Speaking to reporters, Congress media department chief Janardhan Dwivedi confirmed that the names of Mukherjee and Ansari as candidates for the high office emerged during the first round of discussion with the party's allies. More talks will follow, said party leaders.

"When the Congress decides, it will be one name," he added.