Suspended TC MLA says he will vote for Pratibha Patil

KOLKATA: A suspended Trinamool Congress legislator on Tuesday said he would vote for the UPA-Left Presidential nominee Pratibha Patil and urged the party MLAs to do the same.

"As we come from the Congress culture, we should support Pratibha Patil. As there is no whip in the Presidential election I will surely support her," MLA Sadhan Pandey, who was suspended early this year by party chief Mamata Banerjee for expressing support for the Tata Motors' small car project in Singur, said.

"It will be unfair to say that Pratibha Patil, if elected, would be a rubber stamp President," the legislator said in an oblique criticism of the party chief.

The Trinamool Congress has been evasive so far on the issue of support to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who filed his nomination as an Independent Presidential candidate on Monday, with Banerjee still batting for a second term for incumbent APJ Abdul Kalam.