Against the backdrop of dramatic twists and turns in the Presidential race, key National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal-United on Thursday refrained from making its stand clear on the issue saying the United Progressive Alliance should first settle it within itself.
"Let the Congress first decide, Mamata Banerjee is part of UPA alliance, Mulayam Singh Yadav's party is part of UPA and right now this controversy is raging in the UPA fold," JD-U spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari said.
"Let first UPA settle it and
then we will take a view. Let Sonia Gandhi formally announce a name then they will decide on the name," he said.
Sources in the party felt that the choice of APJ Abdul Kalam in the race was "unusual". They said it is the first time that the name of a former president has come up.
"Pros and cons will have to be considered before taking a decision as before there is no such example. Rajendra Prasad was India's president for two times but he was in secession. Generally a former president is not projected," a senior leader said.
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