The Aam Aadmi Party has not taken a decision on whether to back the Opposition parties’ candidate Meira Kumar in the presidential poll to be held on July 17.
The AAP was not invited to the meeting on Thursday evening to finalise the nominees and is in no hurry to take a decision, party sources said.
“We are yet to take a decision on the matter,” party legislator and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj told the Hindustan Times. “Our decision will not be based on what is decided at the meeting,” Bhardwaj said before the meeting that named former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as the Opposition’s presidential candidate.
The party’s top decision-making body, the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), is expected to meet later this month or in early July.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has 86 MLAs in Delhi and Punjab and four members in the Lok Sabha. Its ally in Punjab, the Lok Insaaf Party, has two MLAs in the assembly. Two of the party’s four MPs are under suspension.
Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi said he will go by the party’s decision. “There has been no communication between me and the party for the last two years but I will abide by the whip,” he said.
The 71-year-old Kovind’s candidature was seen as a masterstroke by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it created a divide in the opposition that was trying to put up a consensus candidate.
{{/usCountry}}The 71-year-old Kovind’s candidature was seen as a masterstroke by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it created a divide in the opposition that was trying to put up a consensus candidate.
{{/usCountry}}Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and both factions of the Tamil Nadu-based AIADMK have already announced support for the BJP-led NDA’s candidate Kovind, who resigned as Bihar governor on Tuesday.
A decision by the AAP to go against the Congress-led opposition’s choice will further weaken the opposition camp. The AAP’s politics is equally opposed to both the Congress and the BJP.