With President Pratibha Patil's term ending in July, political parties are ready with names of their candidates for the top post. Both the UPA and NDA do not have the numbers to impose their candidates. The BJP has shown a preference to return of A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term - an unprecedented move of a former President returning to office. The SP has supported the move. The Congress on the other hand has shown leanings towards former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma - a name proposed by the NCP.
This even as a number of other names have cropped up... including Hamid Ansari, Aruna Roy and Gopal Gandhi. Sam Pitroda's name has cropped up as a possible dark horse. Key UPA ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has said he wants a consensus on the name of the candidate but the next president must be a non-political person.

For more log onto- http://alpha.newsx.com