Sangma insists he is still in Presidential race

Despite a call from his party to back down, Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma has said he remains a candidate for President of India.

He insisted on his 'tribal' credentials, and has the backing of a number of parties in the north-west.

"I am in the fray as a tribal candidate, not as a NCP candidate," Sangma said on Friday, even after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's election to the post became almost a certainty.

Sangma pointed out that Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had proposed his name as their candidate for the presidential poll.
 
The assertion came even after NCP general secretary D P Tripathi met Sangma during the day and told him that the party will support the UPA candidate, suggesting that he should opt out of the race.
 
At the UPA meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly asked NCP chief Sharad Pawar if Sangma had his backing. Pawar replied with a firm "no" and stated that he (Sangma) was banking on the support of tribal MPs and MLAs.

NCP sources told Hindustan Times that Sangma's daughter Agatha Sangma had already been reprimanded by party leaders for "openly campaigning" for her father without "proper authorisation".