Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday welcomed the support extended by the BJP for P A Sangma in the presidential election.

“I welcome other parties coming forward to support Sangma,” she said in a statement, without referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party by name. Asked if she would ask West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to back Sangma, she replied: “Let us leave the decision to her.”

It was Jayalalithaa and her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik who first announced their support to Sangma for the presidential poll.