Pranab seeks support of all parties for his candidature

Calcutta, Jun 23 (PTI): The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday 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, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), besides other parties like Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), Janata Dal (United) or JD (U), Shiv Sena have also supported my candidature," he said. "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 Trinamul Congress, Mukherjee had 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 Trinamul 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 Calcutta in the afternoon.