President A P J Abdul Kalam's hope to get a second term in office received a big jolt with Left parties deciding against giving him another term in the august office as the first citizen of the country. The new President must take the oath of office and secrecy on July 25 when Kalam would demit office.
"We have yet to decide about the party's candidate, but one thing is clear that we are not going to give Kalam another term in the office," Nilotpal Basu told rediff.com in the Parliament house complex on Friday afternoon.
He did not mention the candidature of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in so many words, but pointed out that there was no other candidate that the party is contemplating at the moment. "We will talk to our alliance partner Congress party before deciding the strategy," he said.
M Venkaiah Naidu, former president of Bharatiya Janata Party, described Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, vice president of India, as an able administrator who deserves to hold the highest office of the land. "He is capable person," Naidu said.
He took a dig at the Communist Party-Marxist's attempt to foist its own candidate on the other parties when better choice is available.
"You remember last time the Left decided to go alone and in the end they were the ones who were left out. It would be in the interest of the country to have a broad consensus on the candidate for presidency as it happened in the case of A P J Abdul Kalam five years ago," he said.