"But my case is a small matter compared to Mr. Karat’s decision not to allow Jyoti Basu to become Prime Minister."

It was because of the former general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) Prakash Karat’s objection to his candidature, he could not become the President, said Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha speaker.

Mr. Chatterjee, who made the remarks in a recent interview to a Bengali newspaper, spoke to The Hindu on Monday and confirmed the contents of the interview, published in Bengali daily Aajkal. "Everyone now acknowledges the mistake" of not letting Jyoti Basu become the Prime Minister, he said.

“It was in 2007 when I was the Lok Sabha Speaker, Sharad Yadav [Janata Dal-United] met me. They wanted me to be the candidate for the presidential election. I came to know that he was sent to me by the Congress leadership,” said Mr. Chatterjee in the interview to the Bengali daily.

“Parties such as the JD(U), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Shiromani Akali Dal also said that they would support me. I told Mr. Yadav to speak to the CPI-M leadership," Mr Chatterjee said in the interview.

“But Mr. Karat turned down the proposal [of Mr. Chatterjee’s candidature]. If it was not for his objection, I would have become President then as the BJP decided not to put up any candidate,” he said

After few days, Mr. Karat came to meet him and said the CPI(M) "do not propose to put up any candidate for the presidential poll."

"But my case is a small matter compared to Mr. Karat’s decision not to allow Jyoti Basu to become Prime Minister," Mr Chatterjee said.

Mr. Chatterjee also criticised Mr. Karat for withdrawing the CPI(M)’s support from the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in relation to the India-U.S. nuclear deal.