Will support whoever Sonia chooses as prez: Karuna

As the moves to select the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan gain momentum, Dravida Munettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi is believed to have conveyed to Defence Minister A K Antony that he would go along with whoever was Congress President Sonia Gandhi's choice for the next President of the republic, despite his party's unhappiness with the Congress, writes Neerja Chowdhury

Karunanidhi's words have come like music to the Congress' ears, pushed around as it has been by its other allies like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerji and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

Karunanidhi, according to sources, is believed to have told Antony, who met him in Chennai, that as far as his party was concerned, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would be acceptable, so would Vice President Hamid Ansari, and his party would not go against former President APJ Abdul Kalam if he emerged as a candidate, because he was a Tamilian.

But in the final analysis, the DMK would like to go along with whoever Sonia chose as the presidential candidate.

The meeting was held in the home of Kanimozhi, member of Parliament and Karunanidhi's daughter where her mother Rajathi Ammal was also present. Kanimozhi, who is out on bail, has recently had notices served by the Enforcement Directorate in the 2G case, and this has hardly left the DMK very happy.

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A sophisticated coalition player that he is, Karunanidhi reportedly did not mention anything about these notices during his meeting with Antony but the choice of the venue and the presence of Kanimozhi and her mother at the meeting had its own message to convey. The message was not lost on the Congress.

Antony had expressed satisfaction at the meeting being very fruitful.

In the last days, Sonia seized the initiative in driving the process of selecting the next Rashtrapati. She had deputed Antony to go to Chennai and talk to the DMK supremo in what was the formal start of the consultation process.

Earlier she had invited Pawar for a one-on-one meeting with her, and again on Monday, when Pawar called on the prime minister, Sonia was also present at the meeting. Pawar had first favoured a non-politician for the country's first citizen and later clarified that what he was suggesting was someone on whose name there could be broad agreement.

When push comes to shove, the NCP chief is expected to remain with the Congress and is not expected to rock the UPA boat on the issue of the President.

Sonia is slated to meet with Mamata when she comes to the capital on May 4-5 for the chief ministers' meeting on the NCTC. Meanwhile, the Congress president got a senior Congress leader to speak to Mamata on the telephone and he urged her to desist from mooting any name until she had met Sonia.

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A somewhat-mollified Mamata is believed to have agreed, and clarified that she had met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's emissary who had come to Kolkata, but they had not discussed any specific names but only agreed to move together on the presidential poll.

Both Mulayam and Mamata know that if they move in step on the presidential issue, it would go to strengthen the bargaining position of both parties.

The Congress is working overtime to finalise a financial package for West Bengal which the Trinamool Congress chief has been seeking for her debt burdened state. Mamata has nothing to gain at this stage from breaking with the United Progressive Alliance if her demands are met.

Getting a sense that the Congress was now moving to create a broad agreement on the next President, a process which may not include the Bharatiya Janata Party, the saffron party played its card on Monday, calculated to drive a wedge between the UPA and its supporting parties.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj declared that the BJP would not support Mukherji. Instead it would lend its backing to Kalam, if Mulayam were to moot his name.

If Mulayam moves towards the National Democratic Alliance side, it could queer the pitch for the Congress. Several non-Congress, non-BJP parties such as Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal and Jayalalithaa led All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam are believed to have indicated to the NDA that they would prefer to support a non-Congress person.

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The Congress' strategy at the moment is first to try and evolve a consensus among the party's allies (DMK, NCP, Trinamool Congress) and bring on board its supporters (SP and the BSP).

If this happens, it will be home and dry. It realises that the mood among its allies and supporters this time is also to go for someone who is not a Congressman or woman.

Only if plan A fails, will it put plan B into place which means going for a an all round consensus package on the President, vice president and the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

For now, most parties are playing their cards close to their chest, as far as specific names go. They realise that several names will come to the fore and get eliminated before the dark horse emerges.

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