Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday came out in support of the candidature of A P J Abdul Kalam in the Presidential poll, saying he is apolitical and that it will be good if he is elected.
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President. The comman 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," Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former Indian President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
The NDA failed to firm up a position on the Presidential poll as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee and there was lack of clarity on extending support to P A Sangma.
With an intention of using the Presidential poll to rope in parties like AIADMK and BJD and possibly Trinamool Congress, the main opposition BJP-led alliance decided at a meeting in New Delhi that talks would be held with these parties to have a common candidate against Mukherjee.
At a two-hour meeting of the NDA which was skipped by Shiv Sena, JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari is believed to have disfavoured a contest against Mukherjee because of his stature, reflecting a divide in the coalition.
BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were said to be of the opinion that there should be a contest but there was no consensus as to whether to support Sangma, who has been propped up by AIADMK and BJD, or Kalam, who is being pushed into the race by Trinamool Congress.
There was a strong view that supporting Sangma would help NDA win back AIADMK and BJD. However, to finetune this, talks should be held with leaders of these parties before any decision is reached, sources said.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro, shares jump in relief rally after Greek vote - Reuters UK
* Euro hits 1-month high around $1.2748
* MSCI Asia ex-Japan up 2 pct, Nikkei up 1.9 pct
* European indexes seen opening up 1.2-2.2 pct
* Brent crude up 1.1 pct to $98.65 a barrel
* Gold down 0.3 pct, Treasury 10-yr yields rise to 1.65 pct
SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) - The euro jumped to a one-month high and Asian shares rose nearly 2 percent on Monday after Greece's election delivered a slim parliamentary majority to pro-bailout parties, a result seen as crucial to European leaders' efforts to hold the euro together.
European shares markets were expected to make a strong start, with spreadbetters calling the main indexes in London , Frankfurt and Paris to open 1.2 percent to 2.2 percent higher.
U.S. stock index futures and riskier commodities such as crude oil and copper also rose, while gold fell after a rally last week, when investors had looked to bullion as a safe haven amid fears the election could trigger financial turmoil.
But market players cautioned there were still plenty of hurdles ahead and the initial positive market reaction could prove to be short-lived.
"I'm not sure the rally is going to last long," said Dominic Schnider, executive director for wealth management research at UBS. "The problems are still there, you still have huge fiscal issues and it's not just Greece, it's Spain and others."
Parties in Greece that broadly support the 130 billion euro EU/IMF bailout will begin talks on forming a government on Monday. The parties, conservative New Democracy and the mainstream socialist PASOK, would have a parliamentary majority.
Financial markets had feared a victory for SYRIZA, the radical leftists opposed to the austerity package of job, wage and pension cuts that are a condition of the bailout, without which Greece would be bankrupt.
"This election result should keep hopes alive that Greece will stay in the euro," said Taisuke Tanaka, chief FX strategist at Deutsche Securities.
NO "DRACHMAGEDDON"
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 2 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei share average gained 1.9 percent, touching a one-month high. U.S. S&P 500 futures were trading around 0.4 percent higher.
"It's a temporary rally but we're seeing broad gains because the global situation has changed now that the prospect of a 'Drachmageddon' has disappeared," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager of investment and research at SMBC Friend Securities in Tokyo.
The euro was up around 0.6 percent just above $1.27, having climbed as far as $1.2748, its highest level in a month. The U.S. dollar index eased 0.3 percent.
U.S. crude rose 0.9 percent to around $84.80 a barrel, Brent crude gained more than $1 to above $98.60 and copper was 0.7 percent higher around $7,565 a tonne.
Safe-haven assets retreated, with gold down 0.4 percent around $1,622 an ounce and benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year yields rising to around 1.65 percent from about 1.58 percent in last U.S. trade on Friday.
As well as cheering investors, the Greek election result should also come as a relief for world leaders who are due to kick off a G20 meeting in Mexico on Monday.
A statement from the Group of Seven major industrialised nations said it was in "all our interests" for Greece to remain in the euro zone while respecting its international bailout commitments.
CRISIS NOT OVER
But amid the relief, investors' focus was already returning to the many unresolved elements of Europe's deep-seated debt crisis, not to mention concerns over a faltering U.S. recovery and China's transition to a lower growth trajectory.
"We are back to guessing whether or not we will see a growth pact and eurobonds," said Westpac Bank foreign exchange strategists Robert Rennie and Sean Callow in a note. "We are back to guessing when China will come up with a fiscal package to help stabilise a sharply slowing Chinese economy."
Greece's economy remains in deep crisis after five years of recession, Spain has been pushed into seeking 100 billion euros from Europe to rescue its banks and Italy's poor growth prospects and high debt have put it in the bond markets' sights.
After reaching a euro-era high above 7 percent on Thursday, Spain's 10-year bond yield eased 6 basis points from its closing level to 6.90 percent on Friday, while Italian yields fell 15 bps to 6.01 percent.
"Eyes now fall on the opening of the credit-default swap (CDS) and bond market, where a pullback in yields across the sovereigns could push risk up another leg," said Chris Weston, a dealer at IG Markets in Melbourne. (Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney, Sophie Knight and Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo and Manolo Serapio Jr in Singapore; Editing by Neil Fullick)
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