NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly indicated that her party's backing for the Congress-sponsored presidential candidate depends on the Centre's response to her demand of a financial bailout for the state.

"All options are open. We have enough time to decide on the issue," Banerjee said after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to discuss the financial package.

The Trinamool Congress chief, who has been at odds over several issues with Congress which leads the ruling coalition at the Centre, made it clear that her patience was running out. "I am waiting for last 11 months for a solution. During the last 11 months, I have met the prime minister 10 times and finance minister 20 times. If we don't get justice, we will take a political call," she said, issuing a not-so-veiled threat.

Banerjee's toughening of stance came amid efforts on Congress' part to craft an unassailable majority over its presidential nominee. The party, which has been approaching its allies with a list comprising finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Hamid Ansari, believes it has the edge in the numbers game. This has been so especially since the principal opposition scored a self-goal when opposition leader Sushma Swaraj said that BJP would not support any Congress nominee, leading to a sharp reaction from its NDA partner JD (U).

Congress has also received a boost from the Left Front, which seems amenable to backing a consensus candidate. The stand of the Left has weakened efforts of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa as well to rally support against the Congress nominee.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav also indicated on Friday that he might be willing to back the Congress candidate. "As far as the president is concerned, it does not matter whether the person is from minority, Backward or Scheduled Caste community," Yadav said, leading to speculation that Mukherjee may have the edge over Ansari in the race to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Trinamool Congress leaders said though Banerjee did not share a good rapport with Mukherjee, she would not like to be seen as standing in the way of a fellow Bengali's ascent to the top job in the country. A Trinamool leader who did not wish to be named further said, "Mamata may not be inclined to support Ansari as his candidature for the vice-president's post in 2007 was sponsored by the Left."

NCP leader PA Sangma, himself an aspirant for the top post, introduced another political element in the debate during the day when he said the next President must be a Tribal. Tribal leaders will hold a meeting on May 9 and demand that the next President should be from the Scheduled Tribes, Sangma said.