New Delhi, May 2 (DHNS): As the race for presidential election gathered momentum with most parties throwing up names for the poll to  the coveted post, the BJP on Tuesday suffered a setback as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by it stood divided over the issue.

The NDA has 3,04,785 of the total 10,98,882 votes and will have an uphill task if it decides to field a candidate. However, this has not stopped the coalition leader BJP from dropping names of contenders it would support or reject – as its Leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, did on Monday, supporting former President Abdul Kalam and rejecting Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

But within 24 hours after Swaraj declared that her party was opposed to any Presidential candidate put up by the Congress, the Janata Dal (United) sought to distance from her statement, stating that it  it was not the decision of the NDA.

Sharad Yadav, JD(U) president and NDA convener, virtually snubbed Swaraj as he said: “Whatever Swaraj has said is the opinion of the BJP. This is not our party’s view. The issue was not discussed in any NDA meeting. BJP has not discussed the issue with us.”
As differences within the NDA cropped up, its another ally, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said NDA had not yet met to take a decision on the presidential and vice presidential candidates. SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said this when asked about the candidature of his father and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the post of vice president.
The Congress ­– the leader of the ruling coalition UPA – continued to maintain silence.
Although the party has begun consulting its allies such as NCP and DMK, it has not made public the names discussed. The Trinamool Congress, too, has not revealed its thinking.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar spoke of a consensus candidate for President, but did a u-turn the next day. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has said his party has not floated any names, although he denied he preferred Kalam. The SP was instrumental in recommending Kalam who eventually was elected in 2002.

According to Congress sources, the party does not want to mention names of candidates, as it skated on thin ice, thanks to the paucity of numbers.

A candidate has to garner at least 50 per cent of votes polled to be victorious, but the UPA has only about 42 per cent (4,59,483). This means it has to depend on friendly parties such as the SP and Bahujan Samaj Party and even the Left to get its candidate through.

The Left parties, after losing clout after the West Bengal Assembly and in Lok Sabha earlier, are not averse to supporting either Ansari or Mukherjee.