Key NDA meet to decide Prez post nominee begins

The NDA meet began at 11am today at senior leader LK Advani's residence to discuss their nominee for the President's post. The BJP has, however, said that it was waiting for the UPA to come out with a nominee first. Main options before the NDA

The NDA meet began at 11am on Friday at senior leader LK Advani's residence to discuss their nominee for the President's post. The BJP has, however, said that it was waiting for the UPA to come out with a nominee first.

Janata Dal (United) leader and Madhepura MP Sharad Yadav said in the morning that NDA leaders were meeting to discuss their candidate name for the Presidential poll.

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The big question before the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would be whether it should pitch for APJ Abdul Kalam for the post of President — somebody they had tried to reinstate in the top post on an earlier occasion.

With many names in the contest, the race still remains complicated. Therefore, all eyes will be on the NDA and the UPA meets to see whether the two come up with two clear candidates for the President's post.

In the electoral college, which has 10,98,882 vote value, the BJP-led NDA only possesses around 3.04 lakh. The Congress and its allies, including Trinamool, have over 4.60-lakh vote value. Mamata has 48,000 votes that could be added to the NDA’s tally if Kalam is projected. Jayalalithaa's 36,920 votes and Patnaik's 30,215 votes could push the opposition's tally to 4.18 lakh votes. BJP leaders also discussed the candidature of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.