Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today spoke to Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, and veteran National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader L K Advani, seeking the NDA’s support for Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was named United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s nominee for the Presidential election.
Advani said Swaraj had earlier said it would not be possible for the NDA to support a Congress candidate, but promised he would discuss it with other allies.
Singh also spoke to Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav, who is convener of the Alliance.
Earlier in the day, in a meeting held at Advani’s residence to discuss its possible choice of candidate for the Presidential election, the NDA decided to “buy time” and watch the role of other political parties before taking a final decision. Much before senior leaders of BJP and NDA arrived for the meeting, Sharad Yadav had met Advani, and the two leaders decided to “delay” taking any decision in the NDA meeting.