The Trinamool Congress is said to be keen on proposing the name of former West Bengal Governor, Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi, as its choice as the Vice-President candidate.

The name of Ms Krishna Bose, former Lok Sabha member and niece of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, is also being floated by the party, though Mr Gandhi could be their prime choice, party sources said.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday spoke to Trinamool Congress chief, Ms Mamata Banerjee, stepping up efforts to drum up support for Mr Hamid Ansari for a second tenure in the post of Vice-President, elections to which are scheduled for August 7.

However, there is strong speculation that the Railway Minister, Mr Mukul Roy, who has been asked by Ms Banerjee to attend the UPA meeting on Saturday, may propose that Mr Gandhi be made the nominee of the ruling coalition for Vice-President.

On the Presidential election, the Trinamool Congress has said it would announce the party’s strategy three days ahead of the poll slated for July 19.

Trinamool Congress has maintained silence on whether it would support UPA nominee Mr Pranab Mukherjee or abstain.

The party has asked all its MPs and MLAs to be present in Kolkata July 16 onward.

If it decides to vote, all the electors would exercise their franchise in Kolkata and has sought permission for this from the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, who is the Returning Officer, the sources said.

They said the Trinamool Parliamentary Party would meet on July 17 in Kolkata to decide on the Presidential poll.

The last date for nomination for the Vice-President election is July 20.

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