Sangma says Pranab holds office of profit Sangma can’t

Behave as ‘rogue element’

Mr P.A. Sangma has objected to UPA’s Pranab Mukherjee’s nomination as a candidate for the President, saying he holds an office of profit as Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute.

Team Mukherjee, however, rejected the claim as factually incorrect and said Mr Mukherjee quit this position even before he resigned as finance minister last week.

Mr Sangma demanded rejection of Mr Mukherjee’s nomination under the office of profit rules, claiming that the UPA candidate was the ISI. Mr Sangma's lawyer In a scathing attack on Presidential candidate P.A. Sangma, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Monday questioned his claim of representing the tribals in the Presidential poll saying the former Lok Sabha Speaker “can’t behave like a rogue element”. Mukul, a fellow Garo tribal from the same Garo Hills district, said the President represents the whole country and not a particular state, community or religion. “India stands as a viable country. Our country is not governed by individuals, community or religion. If the country is to be divided on the line of community and religion, there would be chaos everywhere”, he said. Satpal Jain, complained to the election’s returning officer on Monday. The BJP too stepped up the attack said his nomination should be rejected.

But Mr Mukherjee’s election agent and parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal described this as “legally ill-conceived.”