P Sangma likely to be NDA Candidate for Presidential elections 2012

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to decide its presidential candidate  today and it is likely to support P A Sangma.

The sources said Wednesday that party leaders, including Sushma Swaraj and Jaswant Singh, met BJP veteran L.K. Advani at his residence.

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy also participated in the discussions.  BJP looks set to sponsor former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma against finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential election.

The sources said the issue would be taken up by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) later.

NDA allies Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena are supporting Finance Minister and United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the July 19 presidential poll.

“As the principal opposition, we cannot be seen endorsing Congress’s choice in one of the most-watched presidential election ever and especially when the UPA’s popularity has slump,” said a leader to justify the party’s stand despite resistance from its oldest allies, Sena and JD(U).

P.A. Sangma on  Wednesday quit the NCP, saying he was hurt by his party’s failure to back his presidential candidature, firmly setting the stage for a contest with UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

Even after the support of AIADMK (3.3 percent) and Biju Janata Dal (2.8 percent), Sangma will get only 22.2 percent votes more if the NDA decided to vote for him minus the Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena.