New Delhi: The CPI-M appears to have fired the first salvo against a second term for President A P J Abdul Kalam. However, the party general secretary Prakash Karat would not hazard a guess about the person his party will support and whether Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is a probable candidate.
Karat said in an interview that the parties had opposed a second term even in case of K R Narayanan. “I recall the last time BJP had argued that no person should be given a second-term which is why we did not support K R Narayanan,” he was quoted by PTI.
The CPIM leader added that since Rajendra Prasad, none of the President’s was given a second-term and it should be no different for Kalam. “I wonder what argument they would give now," he observed.
On being asked whether the CPI-M would favour a second-term for incumbent Kalam, Karat replied in the negative.
He said, "Our party will be discussing the presidential election soon after the UP assembly elections are over. Picture will be clearer then about the electoral college. As far as our party is concerned, we will consider the candidate who is most suitable for holding the post of president."
Interestingly, President Kalam—on his visit to France when asked whether he wished to continue for a second term—was non-committal but did not categorically reject such a possibility.
With excerpts from PTI
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