Cong says it is ready for contest

"Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi have appealed to all parties to support Pranab Mukherjee as a Presidential candidate.... Even after this, if any party or any alliance want to field a candidate, they can do so as this is also a part of democracy," Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told reporters.

"Pranab Mukhkerjee is sure to become the President of the country. He will have no problem at all (in winning the Presidential election)," he said.

Asked about Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien's comment on micro blogging site Twitter wondering whether Mukherjee was trying to break TMC by directly calling on a party MP (Kabir Suman), Alvi said, "Nobody ever levelled such an allegation against Pranab. It is difficult to believe this."