Prez poll: Sangma demands order on Pranab's nomination

Presidential candidate P A Sangma has written to the Presidential election returning officer seeking a copy of his detailed order rejecting Sangma's objection against the candidature of United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

In his letter to the returning officer, Sangma has demanded that the copy of the order be handed over to him by 5 pm on Wednesday as more than 24 hours have gone by after passing the order rejecting his objections.

Confirming this, Bharatiya Janata Party leader S S Ahluwalia said, "This is unprecedented." He said the BJP will decide on further course of action only after a copy of the detailed order is received.

Ahluwalia, who was accompanied by BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar, said let us wait for the copy of the detailed order and further action will follow only after studying it.

Sangma, whose presidential candidature is supported by the BJP, Biju Janata Dal and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, meanwhile, held a two-hour meeting at the residence of Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj to discuss further course of action on the matter.

Ahluwalia, Ananth Kumar and Janata Party leader Subrahmanyan Swamy also attended the meeting.

On Tuesday, the BJP had termed as "fabricated" the resignation letter of United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee from the Indian Statistical Institute and sad it had all options open before it, including legal, and would decide on the matter soon.

The party also alleged that the resignation letter of Mukherjee has been prepared only to save his nomination for the Presidential election and asked both Mukherjee and eminent scientist MGK Menon, who is the president of the Institute, to come clean on the issue.