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June 14, 2007 
Left Welcomes Pratibha Patil's Candidature, BJP Terms it 'Desperate'

New Delhi
The Left parties Thursday welcomed the United Progressive Alliance's choice of Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil as its presidential candidate while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed it a "desperate choice with the Congress party succumbing to Left pressure".

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had consulted all partners of the UPA and the Left parties before naming Patil.

"We found the name to be good and acceptable," Karat told reporters, adding that Patil fulfilled the criteria laid down by the Left parties and had the necessary political experience, a primary pre-requisite of the Left.

However, BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra described Patil's choice as yet another example of the "Congress president succumbing to the pressure from the Left parties".

He was confident that the candidate the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would support would emerge the winner. The NDA is likely to support the candidature of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, though it is yet to take a decision in this regard.

The NDA was apparently waiting for the UPA to name its candidate before disclosing whom it will support for India's top constitutional post.

IANS | June 14, 2007  

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