Mamata bats for APJ in Facebook debut

Unfazed by the isolation after Congress-led UPA nominated Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate for President, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday took her campaign to elect APJ Abdul Kalam online, reaffirming her support for the former President in her first posting on the social site--Facebook.

Opening the post with Rabindranath Tagore’s famous poem “Where the mind is without fear”, Banerjee wrote, “My party is a small party. We are not a big party with none of the resources others possess. We are led by truth and conviction. All through my life I have stood by my principles. I stand by the position I have taken”.

Playing up Kalam’s credentials as the fittest man for the post, Banerjee said, “He is a man of integrity who has held his head high and made the nation proud through his achievements.

He is a seeker of truth, a fount of knowledge and an impartial voice of reason and sanity, who is above narrow politics. He is the kind of man all our citizens aspire to make President”. In an effort to garner support for the former President of the country, Banerjee said, “I have already given a clarion call to other parties to support Dr Kalam as President. Along with my other fellow citizens I can only urge them to consider this call.

Let our country be led forward by people such as him, people of free thought and honourable action who will not hesitate to do what is just and right”.

“In a democracy, people’s will is supreme. I request all my fellow citizens to petition their public representatives to stand up, support and vote for Dr Kalam. Let your voice be heard. I will bow to the will of the people” Banerjee added.

The TMC leader had joined forces with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh to propose the names of Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for President, sending shockwaves amongst the Congress and UPA ranks.

Mulayam denies deal with Congress

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday rubbished assertions that his party’s support for Pranab Mukherjee for the post of president was part of a deal with the Congress and said that the decision was purely based on merit, reports DHNS from Lucknow.

Speaking to reporters here, a day after he declared his support for Mukherjee, the SP chief also trashed reports that his party could join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

“The question of joining the UPA does not even arise. We have extended outside support to the UPA and it will continue,” he said.