Pranab Mukherjee appears set to be the next President with his candidature announced Friday by the ruling UPA and endorsed swiftly by supporting parties SP and BSP amid indications that he will gather more support ahead. The 77-year-old vetran Congress leader, currently Finance Minister with 43 years of parliamentary experience, was named by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at a meeting of the leaders of the Congress and the alliance partners, including DMK, RLD, NCP, NC and IUML.