Mukherjee, best man for president: Congress

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) The Congress Friday said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee "was the best man for the job" of the president with his decades of knowledge and experience.

"Amongst all the names in the fray, I think Pranab ji is the best man for the job. His role in in UPA 1 (United Progressive Alliance) and UPA 2 has been very important," Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here.

Lauding Mukherjee's decades of experience and knowledge, Dwivedi "hoped" that all parties would support Mukherjee's candidature.

"Several political parties had praised him from time to time and it would be great if there is a consensus on his name," he said adding that "it would have been good" if key ally and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was also on board.

Banerjee had Wednesday rejected Mukherjee's candidature and instead proposed former president A.P.J Abdul Kalam's name along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterji.

Bannerjee earlier in the day had even sent "advance congratulations" to Kalam for a second tenure in office.

Dwivedi further said that it was "nature's law that if someone moves on, he shall be replaced by another," when asked about how the government would cope without its "trouble shooter" at the helm of affairs.