Date:18/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/18/stories/2007061803811200.htm

National

Pratibha will make a good President: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that Pratibha Patil was nominated for the Presidential poll due to compulsion. It said Ms. Patil was a "clear choice of the United Progressive Alliance" and she would make a "very good" President.

"It is [the choice] neither compulsion nor helplessness. It was a clear choice of the UPA and the Congress president," Arjun Singh, Human Resource Development Minister and senior party leader told reporters here.

Talking to the media after Ms. Patil paid a courtesy visit to him, Mr. Singh said, "She will make a very good President."

Mr. Singh's name was also doing the rounds as one of the prospective candidates. The Minister downplayed the Opposition charge that the UPA had not made a sincere effort to arrive at a consensus on the Presidential candidate. "Consensus is good. But in politics it is rare to find consensus."

PTI