The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had stuck to her stands to support the candidature of the former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, for the President's post. CM on Friday appealed to all parties to vote for the former speaker. "I welcome other parties coming forward to support Sangma, but let them make the announcement first and I will be happy if they do that," the Chief Minister said. Right from the beginning of the issue CM had been supporting Mr Sangma. CM along with her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik were the first two who had supported the candidature  saying no tribal candidate had so far been nominated for the post.

The former speaker has shown interest to run for the post, in spite of controvesies with his own party. Mr Sangma on Thursday said that he had resigned from the Sharad Pawar led National Congress Party and his membership from the Manipur assembly. The BJP also supported his candidature after futile attempts of persuading the former President Abdul Kalaam.

The 64-years-old leader had made an annoucement in Delhi, expressing his confidence. He said, "I am not a candidate of any single party. My name has been sponsored by two powerful chief ministers of the country. I am grateful to both these leaders. I am very happy that BJP has also taken a stand to support my candidature.''

"Not only BJP but other allies like Akali Dal, JMM and other smaller parties have assured their support. They have told me that they will stand by the decision of NDA," he told reporters. (With inputs from internet-AarKay)