Pranab calls for support from all parties

Kolkata: Apparently referring to ally Trinamool Congress, UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee today once again appealed to those who have not yet decided on supporting him to do so. “Except for one partner all UPA allies have supported my candidature. Non-UPA partners like Samjawadi Party, BSP, besides other parties like CPI(M), AIFB, JD(U), Shiv Sena have also supported my candidature,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_354943” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Pranab has sought the support of all political parties for his candidature.”]  [/caption] “My prayer is that those who have not yet taken a decision please support the UPA presidential candidate,” Mukherjee told reporters before leaving for his ancestral house in Birbhum district. Without naming Trinamool Congress, Mukherjee had last tonight also appealed to the leadership of parties which had not yet decided on support for him to do so. Having opposed the candidature of the union finance minister, the Trinamool is yet to decide on supporting any presidential candidate after A P J Abdul Kalam, whom it had backed, declined to contest. Asked about his feelings, Mukherjee said he was going to his village home with nostalgia. “I am steeped in nostalgia. I was brought up in my village. I am basically a village boy. Whenever I found time, I would go to the village house,” he said. Mukherjee later left to meet his elder sister Annapurna Devi and would spend some time in the ancestral house before returning to Kolkata in the afternoon. PTI