I am not averse to 2nd term: President Kalam

With Prakash Karat, Communist Party-Marxist general secretary, categorically rejecting second term for President of India A P J Abdul Kalam in an interview to a news agency on Saturday, the debate for the presidency has hotted up with all political parties busy in finalising their strategy for this prestigious post.

President Kalam's term ends on July 25, 2007, and the new president has to be sworn in by then.

President Kalam, who had till now been keeping a low profile on this issue, spoke out his mind to newsmen in his interaction with journalists during his tour to Greece and France.

Responding to a question, President Kalam said that he was not averse to another term. A couple of months back, he had told his friends that he would settle down in Tamil Nadu after his term is over.

"Our general secretary Prakash Karat has said that BJP had once gone on record that there could be no second term for any President when there was a demand for second term for K R Narayanan," Mohammad Saleem, CP-M leader who defeated Ajit Panja, former minister in the Congress government at the Centre, told newsmen at a press conference in Parliament House on Monday.

When asked about the BJP stand on the second term for President of India as projected by Karat in his interview, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha, denied that the party had ever taken up a stand on the issue. "This is not true," he said.

Like CPM and BJP, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Priyaranjan Dasmunsi denied that any decision has been taken about the presidential nominee. "We will apply our minds to it after the UP elections are over," he said.

Will President Kalam get another term? Will we hear more about it after the results of the Uttar Pradesh elections?