The Congress has made its choice clear from the way it handled the presidential election nominations that it would prefer to develop relationship with the Janata Dal (U) to wean it away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Although Shiv Sena was the first to declare its support to the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee, the Congress desisted from getting any Shiv Sena signature on his nomination papers while two ministers went to the residence of JD (U) president Sharad Yadav to obtain his signatures and Mukherjee also dropped at his residence to thank him for his party's support.

Congress sources said the party has to make a distinction that JD (U) is a secular party unlike the Shiv Sena which is as communal as the BJP. The party can have no truck with Shiv Sena, while JD (U) is not politically untouchable. In fact, the party would love to tie up with chief minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar, though such prospects are unlikely in the near future, they said.

A Sena leader accused the Congress of its "secular hypocrisy" in not having even a courtesy to approach their supremo Bal Thackeray despite he publicly declaring support to Mukherjee. He, however, clarified that the support is to Mukherjee as an individual and hence there was no question of the Shiv Sena MPs or MLAs signing the nomination papers along with the Congress.

The Congress leaders pointed out that Nitish Kumar has shown his secular guts time and again, the latest only early this month when he wanted the NDA to declare its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with a warning that a communal Narendra Modi will never be acceptable.

For that matter, the Congress did not take signatures of the CPI(M) either despite it breaking the Left unity to support Mukherjee. The Congress sources said the party would not like to antagonise West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee by approaching the CPI(M) as her Trinamool Congress is still a valued ally of the UPA and she may still decide to support Mukherjee.

Asked if the Congress approached Mamata or her Trinamool MPs and MLAs for support, the sources said she had already made her position clear that her party would abstain from voting and hence it would have annoyed her if she was asked to sign Mukherjee's nomination.