New Delhi, June 15 (ANI): Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav on Friday played down Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's invitation to former President Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam for lunch, saying there was no discussion between them over the presidential election.
"There is no politics behind it. He (Kalam) had gone to attend his programme. There was no discussion in between them with regard to the presidential polls," said Yadav.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United is a crucial constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and runs a coalition government in the state with the latter.
When asked to comment on Kalam's name now being figured as one of the contenders for the president's post, Yadav said: "There is no meaning of these names, we are not saying yes or no for these names; we will discuss and decide."
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, who has been at loggerheads with the ruling Congress Party over the presidential candidate, has strongly pitched for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the coveted post, and indicated that in case no consensus emerges on his candidature there will be a contest.
Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal. He served from July 25, 2002 to July 24, 2007.
Kalam was succeeded by Pratibha Devisingh Patil, whose term as President of India ends on July 24. (ANI)
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