Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: UPA presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday filed his nomination papers in Parliament. The veteran Congress leader filed nomination papers in the presence of the top brass of UPA including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and alliance chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Tribal leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma is also scheduled to file nomination today in the Presidential race between UPA and the BJP-backed opposition candidate in which the ruling alliance is set for a runaway victory.
Unfazed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's revolt, UPA utilized the opportunity to project a united picture and its penetration into NDA.
Barring Trinamool Congress, leaders of all UPA constituents were present on the occasion including Sharad Pawar (NCP), TR Baalu (DMK), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and E Ahmed (IUML), in a move to project a united face of the ruling alliance.
NDA allies JD (U) and Shiv Sena have decided to support Mukherjee.
Mukherjee will file four sets of nomination papers and NDA Convenor and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav is the first signatory to one such set which also has the signature of Defence Minister AK Antony.
77-year-old Mukherjee is poised to become the next President amidst indications of an overwhelmingly favourable arithmetic and the election managers of UPA are working overtime to secure record votes for him.
The timing of filing of nomination by Sangma, 64, has not yet been given out by his office. He is likely to be accompanied by senior BJP leaders, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy and senior MPs from AIADMK, BJD and SAD, among others.
With PTI Inputs
First Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012, 08:29