Congress to announce President candidate today or tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Having rejected the three names proposed by TMC-SP combine, the Congress is expected to come out with the name of the UPA candidate either today or tomorrow.

Top party sources said the announcement may come after the Congress Core Group meeting this evening or tomorrow.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had yesterday said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari were the first and the second choices of Congress.

Later, teaming up with Samwajwadi Party, she proposed the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former President A P J Abdul Kalam and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as candidates on whom consensus should be evolved.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi held discussions with senior party leaders including Mukherjee after which the party announced the rejection of the three names proposed by TMC and SP.