Will Pranab Mukherjee be Indias new president?
From correspondents in Delhi, India, 04:30 PM IST If the speculation in political circles turns out to be true, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the new president of India. Although his name is among half a dozen talked about for the presidency, it is becoming increasingly clear that he is ahead of everyone else, not least because incumbent A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is unlikely to get a second term. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has stated that Kalam has opted out of the race because no consensus could be built around his name. And the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) does not want to insist on a second five-year term for Kalam since it had argued against a second tenure for K.R. Narayanan in 2002. Political sources say that Mukherjee, one of India’s most experienced politicians, could move into the Rashtrapati Bhavan if the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) manages to build a consensus around his candidature, earning in the process the support of the N
