Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Benerjee today met Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Presidential Candidate issue. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Ms. Banerjee said that she had a detailed discussion on the issue with Mrs. Gandhi. She said that Mrs Gandhi has proposed the names of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

However, after meeting with Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ms Benerjee said that both parties have agreed on the names of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for the post of next President. Talking to reporters in a joint press conference with Mr. Yadav, Ms Mamata Benerjee said, if consensus on these three names emerges, it will be good for the country.

Mr. Yadav appealed to all parties to consider one of these three names for consensus. He however denied giving priority to any of the three names.

Meanwhile ,the BJP today said that the Congress should first disclose its view on the three names for Presidentship as jointly proposed by TMC and SP. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Party General Secretary Anant Kumar said that after the finalization of names by Congress, it will convene a meeting of National Democratic Alliance and will take any decision.