BJP-led opposition divided over Pranab

Pranab Mukherjee

The BJP core group is meeting here to decide on supporting finance minister and Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee's candidature as next President.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) getting divided over pitching a candidate against Mukherjee, the ruling United Progressive Alliance's choice for the top post.
While the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) do not want to pitch a candidate against Mukherjee, Subramanian Swamy-led Janata Party and the Shiv Sena are in favour of bringing an opposition candidate, say sources.
The meeting will be held at 6:00pm at BJP president Nitin Gadkari's residence, a party member confirmed.
The opposition NDA is scheduled to meet today to discuss the presidential election.
The BJP is in favour of former president APJ Abdul Kalam, whose name was first put forward by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Yadav has since backed out.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday called BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and sought the party's cooperation in electing Mukherjee as the next President.