Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu [Images] on Tuesday said the main reason behind the United National Progressive Alliance's decision to abstain from voting in the coming Presidential election is that it did not want to support controversial candidates for the highest post.

He said there was no alternative available to them. It was a collective decision of the UNPA partners, he added.

The TDP leader said that though the United National Progressive Alliance had tried to field a non-controversial candidate like President A P J Abdul Kalam, other parties did not agree.

Naidu said both the United Progressive Alliance-Left nominee Pratibha Patil and the National Democratic Alliance-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were controversial candidates, facing allegations against them.

Asked about some parties' demand to denounce the parties which abstain from the poll, he said it was the decision of the voter to choose the candidate. Even the Election Commission had admitted that it could not compel voters to vote for a particular candidate.

He said former Union minister and Saharanpur MP Rasheed Masood would be the UNPA's candidate for the Vice-Presidential Election.

TDP leaders would be present when Masood files his nomination.