Bachchan for President?

Fancy seeing Big B in Rashtrapati Bhavan? When 64-year-old Amitabh Bachchan’s name was first flaunted by a section of media as the next President of India, many dismissed it as the work of an idle mind.
But with Bachchan’s “brother” and Samajwadi Party general secretary, Amar Singh, floating his name and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu finding nothing wrong with the suggestion, media and political circles are abuzz. According to Singh, “Bachchan is a superhero and has a global image.”
Many dismiss the proposal as “laughable” and a non-serious move on the part of the SP. One or two parties cannot influence the outcome of the presidential election as in the fractured polity nobody has majority in the electoral college. Mainstream parties like the Congress or the BJP need the support of many other parties to see their candidate through, not to talk of the so-called Third Front which has been in disarray.
Sources close to Naidu, however, said the TDP chief is not serious when he offered to back Big B. Naidu had “political” talks with Singh a few days ago in Delhi. However, sources close to the TDP chief said he would not endorse Bachchan without consulting CPI (M), which already has a “strong” candidate in Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. When asked for his comments CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury initially had a hearty laugh and then he said, “We have not applied our mind. When time comes we will decide.”
SP leader Shahid Siddiqui denied any move to foist Bachchan. “Our first priority is to win the elections. We have not decided. Bachchan is respected all over the world. That does not mean he is the Presidential candidate.”
However, Singh told a TV channel that Bachchan’s candidature may be firmed up after the UP polls. So why is Singh floating his pal’s name? Political circles are offering two reasons: After a series of political and constitutional set backs Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh are desperate to win the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and offering to make him the President may go down well with a section of people in the state and SP may wish to translate that into votes.