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Alexander disappointed with Congress party

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai

Reacting for the first time on his failure to get nominated as the presidential candidate, P C Alexander, the former governor of Maharashtra, said he was disappointed by the lack of support from the Congress party.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Monday Alexander said, "If I say that I am not upset by the stance taken by the Congress party against my election to the President's post it won't be right."

Alexander held his press conference after he filed his nomination for contesting the Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra as an independent candidate backed by the aNationalist Congress Party.

Asked what was the reason behind Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's opposition to his candidature, Alexander said, "I served her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and her late husband Rajiv Gandhi. I don't want to say that she should have supported me because I knew her family well, but I thought she would have seen that I have the basic qualities and was eligible for the President's post."

When asked if his religion was a hindrance, as Sonia Gandhi did not want a Christian President when she herself -- a Christian -- was aspiring for the prime minister's post, Alexander said, "I read some reports in newspapers. And I feel that this question should be addressed to the Congress party rather than me."

He, however, added that it is wrong to judge a person by his religion when you consider him for the top post in the country.

Asked whether there was any communication gap between Sonia Gandhi and him or someone was poisoning her ears against him, Alexander said, "I have no communication gap with her. I used to meet her whenever I used to be in New Delhi. I treated her with great respect and she too showed respect to me. However, I don't know if anyone has poisoned her ears against me."

Asked whether he will be disappointed all his life that he could not make to the President's office, Alexander said, "I am not after posts. In 1992, the prime minister (Narasimha Rao) wanted me to be the Vice-President of India, but I refused. He then offered me the post of the ambassador to the United States of America. I refused again. However, after two months when he offered me the post of the governor of Maharashtra, I readily agreed because I felt like taking up the job. And in the same way, I feel like taking the job of a Rajya Sabha member now."

Asked if he was setting bad precedent by entering active politics after holding a gubernatorial post, he refused to comment.

Queried about his age, the 81-year-old Alexander said, "I am mentally and physically fit. This option (of becoming a Rajya Sabha member) came to me two weeks ago, and I feel that I can serve the people."

Earlier in the day, Alexander issued a press statement saying the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pramod Mahajan, had approached him carrying the message of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani asking him to be the National Democratic Alliance candidate.

"I agreed and the NDA leaders also expected that the Congress will support me as I had close links with Gandhi family and senior leaders of Congress party," the statement quoted him as saying. "However, I was surprised that the expectations of the Congress party and mine were misplaced. My anguish became greater when I found later on that a few overzealous leaders of the Congress party were making the campaign against me a personal one."

"Even after my name was dropped as the candidate for the post, the spokesperson of the Congress party went to the extent of claiming that 'Congress deemed it an outstanding positive achievement to get Alexander out'," he claimed.

"As a serving governor, I was in no position to rebut these various attacks against me. Even though I knew that such statements did not reflect the views of the overwhelming majority of Congressmen, I felt very embarrassed and unhappy. I started seriously thinking of relinquishing my post in order to have the freedom of a citizen unconstrained by the discipline and convention of my office," he said.

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