Sharpening his attack on United Progressive Alliance [ Images ] rival Pranab Mukherjee [ Images ], Opposition-backed Presidential nominee P A Sangma on Tuesday said Rashtrapati Bhavan [ Images ] was being used as a "dumping ground".
"Raisina Hill is being used as a dumping ground for the failed finance minister," Sangma, who was in Mumbai [ Images ] to mobilise support for his Presidential bid, told reporters.
Asked if he was confident of a victory, Sangma said, "There are no ifs. I will win. I have never lost an election in my life. My winning margin has always increased."
Sangma appealed to Congress ally Nationalist Congress Party and National Democratic Alliance constituent Shiv Sena [ Images ], which have already declared their support for Pranab Mukherjee, to back him.
"I have come here to appeal to parties, especially NCP and (Shiv Sena chief) Bal Thackeray [ Images ] to support my candidature," he said.
On whether he would be meeting Thackeray, Sangma said, "Not everything in politics happens through meetings. Like you (media) have channels, we also have channels."
Sangma said he had served as a minister under three prime ministers but found the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government to be better. "The NDA government under Vajpayee performed very well. No one can deny that," he said.
Describing Law Minister Salman Khurshid's reported comments about Congress lacking "ideological direction" as the "beginning of a political churning," Sangma claimed there would be a lot more "upheavals" in the days ahead.
"Despite making these remarks, how is Khurshid continuing in the Union Cabinet? Why is he not being sacked? This means that it is not he but 10 Janpath which is saying these things," he claimed.
"I have been saying that this poll is going to be a political churner. The churning has started with Khurshid's statement," Sangma said.
Sangma lamented that despite his contributions to the growth of the NCP, the party decided not to back him in the Presidential election.
Describing NCP chief Sharad Pawar [ Images ] as a "very shrewd politician," Sangma said, "I have in my own humble way contributed to the growth of that party. The least I can expect is support."
He appealed to his "friends" in NCP to lend him their support after listening to their "conscience".
Asked how he expected to win the poll with the numbers stacked heavily against him, Sangma said, "Magic can always happen."
Asked to elaborate, he said, "It is a secret. I can't tell you, or you will pass it on to my opponents."
On his plea seeking the Election Commission's intervention for a fresh probe into his objections against the candidature of Mukherjee, Sangma said he was "waiting for a ruling" from the poll panel.
Asked about the stance of his daughter and Union Minister of State for Rural Development Agatha Sangma [ Images ] on his Presidential bid, Sangma said, "Technically the parliamentary system of government is also known as cabinet system.
"Ministers of state, deputy ministers are not part of the cabinet. She is supporting (the government) because NCP is supporting the Centre," he said.
Noting that no tribal has ever occupied the President's post in the country, Sangma said, "The country is facing many problems which are tribal-related, like Maoism, Naxalism and underground insurgency. I, as a tribal leader of this country, can help the government to bring those people into the national mainstream."
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