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Thursday, May 17, 2007
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Candidate must have stature: Left parties

Special Correspondent

Impeccable secular credentials also necessary, says CPI(M) chief Prakash Karat

NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Wednesday said the presidential candidate must be a person of political stature, with the requisite political background and experience to fulfil Constitutional responsibilities.

Announcing this after a meeting of the four Left parties, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said the Constitutional responsibilities would mean maintaining a balance between the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive; thus, the candidate must have an integral knowledge of the functioning of the political system. Also, impeccable secular credentials were necessary. In 1992, the Left played a crucial role in ensuring that a person with such credentials occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

No names discussed

Mr. Karat said no names were discussed at the meeting, attended by Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja (CPI), Debabrata Biswas and G. Devarajan (AIFB) and Abani Roy (RSP). The leaders were present at the press conference.

Mr. Karat said the Left parties had already held a round of consultations with the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and others. The views of non-UPA, non-BJP parties, such as the Telugu Desam Party and the Samajwadi Party, would also be ascertained to see whether a common ground could be found.

Ahead of the meeting, TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu called on Mr. Karat, and later on Mr. Bardhan.

He conveyed the TDP's stand that it would oppose any candidate put up by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

At the same time, the party was not in favour of extending support to a Congress candidate, sources in the Left parties said.

Mr. Naidu said a similar position was expected to be taken by the Samajwadi Party, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Asom Gana Parishad. He wanted to know whether the Left parties could put up a candidate, which would make it easier for the TDP to take a stand, the sources said.

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