NDA convener is Mukherjee’s proposer

In a major embarrassment for the BJP, NDA convener Sharad Yadav will be a proposer for UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Yadav is a signatory to the one set of the nomination papers to be filed by Mukherjee on June 28.

In a major embarrassment for the BJP, NDA convener Sharad Yadav will be a proposer for UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Yadav is a signatory to the one set of the nomination papers to be filed by Mukherjee on June 28.

HT Image

Union ministers Rajiv Shukla and V Narayanasamy secured Yadav’s signature at his residence and asked him to be present when the nomination is filed.

Sharad Yadav told HT that Nitish Kumar had also visited him apart from the two UPA ministers. Asked whether he would be present when Mukherjee files his nomination, Yadav said, “Woh chhoro abhi (leave that question for now).”

JD-U MP Vashishtha Narayan Singh, who has also signed the nomination paper along with Yadav, however, told HT that he (Singh) wouldn't be able to be present on the nomination filing day. At a time when the BJP has decided to contest against Mukherjee, the NDA convenor officially proposing his name is sure to rattle the BJP.

The two parties have also seen a war of words over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's statement that the NDA should have a secular PM-candidate, seen as a rejection of Narendra Modi's candidature.