The Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar's remarks favouring a person with “not too much” of a political mind for the President's post has stirred the pot with parties, including the Congress, chanting the mantra of a consensus candidate in the upcoming Presidential polls.
Former President Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's name cropped up in the discussions today with Samajwadi Party saying it was “not averse” to his candidature while others remained ambivalent.
Mr Pawar, leader of the NCP and one of the important constituents of the UPA, clarified this morning that he had only talked about an “agreed” candidate and not a non-political person for the post.
“I have not said this. I have spoken about agreed candidate,” Mr Pawar told reporters when asked to comment on his yesterday's reported remarks of a “non-political” candidate for the post of the President.
He insisted that neither the UPA nor the NDA has the numbers and, therefore, a process of consultation was necessary.
“I am sure leadership concerned will start the process. We need to think about agreed candidature at this moment,” he said.
Mr Pawar's remarks triggered instant reaction with two senior ministers Mr Kapil Sibal and Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad saying that they were working towards a consensus.
Mr Azad, a member of the GoM on Media, told reporters that the office of President is big and no political party has a majority to get its candidate elected. “If the President is elected, it will be through consensus. In a democracy, every group has a right to express its opinion about an individual or a leader,” he said.