New Delhi: 8:20 PM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) core group meeting ends without any decision on the Presidential poll. The BJP calls a meeting of the NDA members at the residence of senior leader L K Advani at 11 am on Friday. BJP spokesperson Ananth Kumar says the talks are still on and senior leaders like Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and L K Advani are in discussion with the NDA allies.
7:16 PM: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), says Pranab Mukherjee is not fit to be the President. Jethmalani further says that if the BJP decides to support Mukherjee, he will contest the Presidential elections.
7:14 PM: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday backed PA Sangma's candidature for the post of President, saying Sangma is the fittest candidate for the job.
7 PM: Ahead of the NDA session on Sunday, the BJP core committee met on Saturday evening to decide whether to throw its weight behind APJ Kalam for the President's post.
6:20 PM: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday refused to speak to media on the President poll, saying "whatever I have to say I will say it in Facebook."
6:04 PM: Sources close to former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma says he has not taken any decision to back out in the Presidential poll, and is waiting for an official reaction from the AIADMK and the BJD to see if they are willing to back him or not.
5:55 PM: The NCP says that former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma will abide by the decision of the party on the Presidential poll. NCP's D P Tripathy says he was told about the decision by the North East leader when he met Sangma.
4:52 PM: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav says his party decided to support Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential poll as the veteran leader is a very intelligent and talented person.
3:58 PM: Hitting out at the Congress, senior Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim says the party is free to leave the West Bengal government.
Congress is free to leave the govt in West Bengal: says senior TMC minister Firhad Hakim
3:24 PM: PA Sangma has said that he will not opt of the presidential race and has dared his party, the Nationalist Congress Party, to expel him if they so wish. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar had said that he would hold a party meeting on June 21 to convince Sangma to withdraw from the contest.
2:03 PM Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said on Saturday that he wanted APJ Abdul Kalam to stand for the Presidential race as he wanted to see Pranab Mukherjee "challenged". "I am in favour of a contest. I would like to see Pranab challenged," he said, adding, "Kalam never told me that he is a candidate. However, he agrees to be a candidate. So we may have to talk to Mamata. Kalam will make the announcement if he wants."
1:15 PM The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said on Saturday that it would support PA Sangma in the Presidential race. Party leader Arjun Sethi said that the decision was taken at a meeting held with BJD Chief and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
11:54 AM Sources close to PA Sangma say it's a status quo on President poll. They say Sangma is very much in the fray. He is waiting and watching NDA's decision. He will do whatever AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik will tell him since they have sponsored his candidature.
11:38 AM: JD(U) President Sharad Yadav says Shivanand Tiwari's views are his personal views. The NDA is meeting tomorrow, we will discuss in the meeting and take a stand. I can't say anything before the meeting, he said.
11:28 AM: BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says his party can't oppose or support Pranab Mukherjee right now because there has been no decision yet.
My personal opinion is that Pranab is a seasoned, experienced leader and he is a good man. What BJP wants, whether a contest or a consensus, will be decided in the meeting. It eould have been better if the Prime Minister had spoken to senior BJP leaders before announcing the name. Now BJP and NDA will discuss and decide: Naqvi
10:59 AM: This is an election and people put forward their candidates and finally decide after consensus among the allies. Mamata is a key ally of the UPA. We are sure that since alliance parties have consensus on the candidate and I am confident that Mamata will also support Pranab Mukherjee: Congress MP and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal
10:51 AM: Pranab Mukherjee should be elected unopposed as the President and NDA should clear its stand: RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
Pranabji at times loses his temper inside Parliament. I am hopeful that when he goes to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, he will not lose his temper: Lalu.
10:47 AM: My personal opinion is that Pranab should be made the consensus candidate: JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari.
10:19 AM: BJP core group to meet on Saturday evening to discuss President poll.
9:53 AM: NDA divided over taking on Pranab Mukherjee. JD (U), Shiromani Akali Dal are not keen on a contest. Janata Party chief Sumbramaian Swamy, Shiv Sena are keen, but there is a division within the BJP.
9:46 AM: Sources say JD (U) not keen on a contest. Final decision will be taken after the NDA meeting on Sunday.
9:23 AM Sources say BJP is likely to back PA Sangma if he contests. The NDA meet on Sunday will decide whether to support Sangma's candidature or not.
9:21 AM Former Lok Sabha speaker and NCP leader PA Sangma still defiant, tells NCP chief Sharad Pawar that he would contest unless AIADMK and BJD pull out.
With the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) announcing Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate for the President's post, and getting support from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the contest has been almost won.
Pranab's name was declared by UPA Chairperson Soni Gandhi on Friday afternoon after being endorsed by all UPA allies, except Trinamool Congress, which continues to voice support for former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
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