New Delhi, Jun 18: With the Presidential poll hogging the limelight and the name of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee being seen as the next choice of President of India, there seems to be a strong campaign for former President APJ Abdul Kalam. There are reports that Kalam, who is popularly considered the common man’s favourite, is being pressurised to contest for Presidential elections.

With Kalam being non-committal on his candidature, the Trinamool Congress, BJP and the Shiv Sena are forcing the former President to contest in the poll. He had, however, maintained that he was ready to contest if there was a consensus on his name among various political parties.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani as well as Sudheendra Kulkarni met Kalam to compel him to contest for the polls. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also expressed his support for Kalam and said, “It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President. The common man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president.”

In spite of keeping away from the NDA meeting on the Presidential polls, the Shiv Sena has also voiced their support for Kalam as President. West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also has been campaigning hard for Kalam in spite of the UPA’s snub to her suggestion. Banerjee is also expected to issue a whip asking her party MPs to vote for Kalam.