Congress Prez candidate will be decided shortly: Mukherjee

New Delhi, June 14 (ANI): Amid the Congress holding parleys with its senior leaders in the wake of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Samajwadi Party (SP) stunning the ruling party by proposing three names for the presidential candidate, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said the candidate for the coveted post will be decided shortly.

"Who will be the Presidential candidate will be decided shortly and you will come to know who is going to be the Congress presidential candidate," he told media here.

Congress Party earlier in the day ruled out sparing Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for the presidential race, as it rejected the three names proposed by the two allies, sending signals that it was not in a mood to bow before them.

"Manmohan Singh will stay prime minister till 2014. We cannot afford to spare Manmohan Singh," said Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi.

Dwivedi also said that the names of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and former President APJ Abdul Kalam as proposed by Mamata and Mulayam were not acceptable to the Congress.

He further said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari were the party's preferred choices and would continue to remain so.

Lashing out at TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Dwivedi said: "Names come up during discussions and there is sanctity to close door talks. Mamata should not have announced the details of the meeting in public."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi held parleys with senior party leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony and P Chidambaram at her residence here.anerjee and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier on Wednesday evening announced the names of Manmohan Singh, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Somnath Chatterjee as their preferred choices for the July 19 presidential poll.

The latest developments appear to be a major blow for the ruling Congress Party, as both Mamata and Mulayam have rejected the names of Mukherjee and Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Mamata, who met Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, remains non-committal over the UPA chairperson's suggestion, saying she would revert on the issue after discussing it with her Trinamool Congress colleagues.

Trinamool Congress, with 19 members in the Lok Sabha, is the largest constituent of UPA after the Congress. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party, which has 22 members in the Lok Sabha, is an outside supporter of the ruling alliance.

A fresh round of consultations on the issue of selection of a presidential nominee is taking place in the UPA, after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) authorised Gandhi to decide on the candidates for the coming presidential and vice presidential elections.

Gandhi has so far held discussions with DMK chief Karunanidhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and RLD chief Ajit Singh on the presidential candidate.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil's term ends on July 24. (ANI)