Kalam undecided, Mamata insistent

New Delhi: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday is expected to announce whether he will stand for a reelection even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued strongly backing the nuclear scientist's candidature.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, whose ties with the Congress have hit a new low over her firm rejection of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's nomination, continued to jab barbs at the estranged partner on Facebook.

"It is most unfortunate that politics in our great nation has become murky and values, public interest have been compromised through the use of money, power and scams," she wrote, in an apparent reference to the ongoing drama over the Presidential election.

Banerjee, whose role in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is being widely seen as coming to an end, however is not too keen on siding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) either, media reports said.

Even though a faction within the NDA, supposedly led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is in favour of supporting Pranab Mukherjee for the President's post, a more influential group intends to settle for a different nominee, media reports said.

India's 2012 Presidential election, entangled in unprecedented political jockeying, scheduled for an electoral college vote on July 19.