As the Congress leadership is continuing parleys with allies and party leaders, the Samajwadi Party and the CPI (M) have asked the UPA to announce its candidate for the Presidential poll.

The parties said on Monday that a consensus on the candidate could be built only after the UPA announces its candidate.

The CPI (M) General Secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, said the Left parties are not ready to waste their time on speculation. “We do not know who is going to be proposed (by the Congress). We can't go by all the speculation. Did anyone expect that Ms Pratibha Patil was going to be the President? Let the Congress party tell us. Why should we waste time discussing speculation,” Mr Karat told a press conference.

Hinting that the Left parties may prefer a non-UPA, non-NDA candidate, Mr Karat said his party is not bound to support the UPA's candidate. “We are not bound, we are not part of the alliance of the Congress and the UPA that we have to support anybody they propose,” he said adding that the situation in 2007 was different and no one thought that Ms Pratibha Patil would be the UPA's candidate.

“Last time it was a different situation. Now, it is for the Congress to decide on who will contest,” he said.

There were reports that many members of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), which met here recently, is not in favour of supporting the UPA for the presidential polls.

The Samajwadi Party also said that it was for the UPA to announce the candidate first. “The Presidential elections have not been announced yet. There are no candidates. We will decide on whom to support after considering merits and de-merits of candidates,” the SP supremo, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav said addressing a press conference here on Monday.

“Our party has not taken any decision yet. When the elections are announced, the Parliamentary Board will meet again to decide on the issue,” he added.

>jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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