Prez polls: Trinamool Congress to stay away from voting

After keeping the presidential poll candidates on tenterhooks for long and occasioning extensive political mudslinging, Mamata Banerjee has decided that the Trinamool Congress will abstain from voting in either the Presidential or the Vice-Presidential polls.Mamata Banerjee has stirred up quite a storm when she refused to support UPA's candidate Pranab Mukherjee and instead pitched for former president Abdul Kalam. Banerjee had suggested the name of former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as a Vice-Presidential candidate. However, both refused to contest the polls.[caption id="attachment_380560" align="alignleft" width="380"] PTI[/caption]Meanwhile, despite her snub, Prabab Mukherjee and the Congress continued to declare in press conferences and public meets that they were hopeful of Banerjee's support. The NDA too sought her support for their candidate PA Sangma, who had even paid her a visit in the run-up to the polls.Leaving the UPA red-faced, Banerjee had famously also suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name as a Presidential candidate. Faced with losing her support, Mukherjee reached out to Banerjee's arch-rival, the Left front in West Bengal who confirmed their support to him.