Kolkata: Former Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress's member of parliament (MP) Dinesh Trivedi Friday congratulated union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for being nominated as the presidential candidate of the ruling UPA.
"I congratulate Pranab-da for being nominated as the presidential candidate. He is a politician and an administrator par excellence. He deserves this. I am very happy personally," said Trivedi, who was replaced by Mukul Roy as railway minister after he annoyed Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee by raising the rail fare.
Pranab Mukherjee, the central government's most reliable trouble shooter, was Friday named the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA)candidate for the presidency and found backing from many political parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh had, along with Mamata Banerjee, virtually rejected Mukherjee, whom Congress president Sonia Gandhi suggested for presidency during her talks with Banerjee.
But in less than 48 hours, the Samajwadi Party Friday did a U-turn, and announced it would support Mukherjee as the country's president.
When asked about the future of Banerjee in the UPA, a guarded Trivedi said: "I cannot say anything about it. But as far as I know Mamata-di, she is a very emotional person. I would not be surprised if Mamata-di announces her support for Pranab-da. I foresee a patch-up between them."
IANS
First Published: Saturday, June 16, 2012, 17:42