No need to drag ideology into prez poll: Venkaiah to Oppn

He also said it was unfortunate that the Congress and Left parties are trying to rake up an unseemly controversy, where none exists, by terming the upcoming presidential polls as an ideological battle.

"I do not see any reason for ideology to be dragged into the presidential election which should be kept above the routine of accusatory politics being indulged in by political parties," Naidu said here.

Having a president, who goes by the Constitution, is all the more important as the country just observed the 42nd anniversary of Emergency, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said.

"In 1975, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed a proclamation imposing Emergency without even a Cabinet decision, simply on the basis of a letter written by the then prime minister and thus trampled upon all democratic rights of the people," he said.

"Conscious vote is a matter of convenience for the Congress. Let us recall that it has used conscience to defeat its own official candidate Neelam Sanjiva Reddy," Naidu said.

Raising the pitch for the NDA's pick for the presidential polls, he said the country needs a "constitutional president" who simply adheres to the Constitution in its letter and spirit of and who is above politics.