Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi on Thursday charged the eight-party United National Progressive Alliance with  having put President A P J Abdul Kalam in an embarrassing position by proposing a second term  for him without taking his consent.

“By announcing their support for a second term for Mr Kalam without even taking his consent, the Third Front leaders have put him in a tight corner,” he said in a statement.

He said the front had pitched for Kalam not out of respect for his erudition but only for a political score over the UPA which had put up a woman for the presidency for the first time in the history of the country.

In this connection, he pointed out that AIADMK chief Jayalalitha, who is in the newly formed United National Progressive Alliance, did not even bother to go to Delhi to meet Kalam after coming out in favour of another term for him.

Recalling his meeting with Kalam in New Delhi in December last, Karunanidhi said he personally requested him to run for a second term. But the President expressed his wish to spend the rest of his life in academic activities.

‘See through game’

He expressed the hope that Kalam would see through the game being played by the UNPA leaders.

Rebuffing criticisms that Pratibha Patil was the last choice of the UPA, he said it was usual practice to consider various names for reaching an agreement with allies.

“Will the Third Front leaders explain how the attempt to make Mrs Patil the first woman President of India can be construed as a joke,” he asked.