New Delhi, June 12
The recently constituted non-Congress and non-BJP People’s Front met a premature death with the Left parties today deciding to put up a candidate for the Presidential election against NDA nominee A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Contest for the 12th Presidential election is now a strong possibility with Secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist Party Abani Roy, MP, saying that a decision had been taken to this effect by the Left parties.
There was enough time for finalising the candidate as filing of nomination papers would close on June 25, Mr Roy said adding that the candidate’s name would be finalised in a day or two.
Dr Kalam was not acceptable to the Left parties — the CPI, the CPM, the RSP and the All-India Forward Bloc — which had differences on the issue with People’s Front Convener and Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has extended support to Dr Kalam, Mr Roy said.
CPM General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet and CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said NDA nominee A P J Abdul Kalam had to be opposed in view of the ongoing tension along the international border.
“The candidate should be well versed in politics, law, Constitution and the present coalition culture,” the representatives of the four Left parties, told a news conference.
They regretted the “decent burial” of the People’s Front comprising the Left Parties, the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal(S) due to the support announced by SP leader and PF Convener Mulayam Singh Yadav to the NDA candidate.
They attributed the disintegration of the recently floated PF to Mr Yadav’s insistence on supporting Dr Kalam and resolved that the Third Front, which would maintain equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP, would be reorganised.
