The Hindu : Front Page : Kalam, an ideal man: UNPA

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Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007
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Kalam, an ideal man: UNPA

Special Correspondent

The former Chief Ministers, Chandrababu Naidu, Jayalalithaa and Mulayam Singh, at a meeting of the Third Front in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: Leaders of seven regional parties on Monday favoured President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for a second term in office “in the interest of the nation.”

The leaders, who met here on Monday under the banner of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), felt that election to the highest Constitutional office should not be politicised.

The one person who commanded respect and support of all sections of society was Mr. Kalam, they said and appealed to other political parties, including the left parties, to sink their differences and put the Presidential election above political considerations. The meeting, convened by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Jayalalithaa, was attended by Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh, the former Chief Ministers of Haryana and Jharkhand, Om Prakash Choutala and Babulal Marandi, Asom Gana Parishad president Brindaban Goswami and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko.

At a press conference, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the UNPA would appeal to all parties, especially the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, to give Mr. Kalam another term as he was a Tamil.

When it was pointed out that Mr. Kalam had made it clear that he would not contest for a second term, she said the UNPA leaders would meet Mr. Kalam and persuade him to reconsider his decision. No one would equal the stature of Mr. Kalam.

At a time when the country was politically divided, there should be consensus and he was the ideal man to occupy the post for another term.

Ms. Jayalalithaa described the nomination of Pratibha Patil by the United Progressive Alliance as “a joke played on the nation by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.”

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