Prez poll: Oppn meets,Centre dials key leaders

The race to elect the next President heated up on Wednesday as several Opposition parties gathered at a meeting in Delhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached out to top political leaders in an effort to build a consensus for the July 18 election.

New DelhiThe race to elect the next President heated up on Wednesday as several Opposition parties gathered at a meeting in Delhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached out to top political leaders in an effort to build a consensus for the July 18 election.

(Rahul Singh)

Seventeen Opposition parties convened at a meeting called by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and said they will meet again next week to select a consensus candidate after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar declined to contest the poll. Six Opposition parties skipped the event, where Banerjee also proposed the names of former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, and former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as possible candidates.

“I sincerely appreciate the leaders of opposition parties for suggesting my name as a candidate… However, I have humbly declined the proposal of my candidature.I am happy to continue my service for the well-being of the common man,” Pawar tweeted.

On the other side of the aisle, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda dialled the leaders of at least 12 parties to build a consensus. This included ally Nitish Kumar as well as Banerjee, Pawar, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, among others. The BJP is yet to name its candidate for the poll.

The absence of six opposition parties bolsters the prospects of NDA, which is set to win the poll, while the Opposition has a slim chance of victory in the election, for which the results will be announced on July 21.

The Opposition’s first attempt to nominate a common candidate suffered a blow with the Aam Aadmi Party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the BJD, the YSR Congress, the Akali Dal and the Sikkim Democratic Front skipping the meeting at Delhi’s Constitution Club. Some of them said they didn’t want to share a stage with the Congress, others claimed they were not invited.

The meeting also veered from its original issue — of finding a candidate — to the larger goals of Opposition unity. Banerjee slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for their “motivated grilling” of Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders such as Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee at the “behest of Narendra Modi”; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti pointed how her party and National Conference were rivals but now “fought together”.

Another meeting is likely to be held on June 20 or 21.

Leader of the Opposition, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, said, “We must remain united and disciplined and not score political points against each other. The unity we demonstrate now will have implications going well beyond the Presidential polls.” Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam remarked, “This is a positive initiative in the correct direction. This is a prelude to the bigger battle of 2024.”

On the BJP’s side, Singh spoke to Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Odisha CM Patnaik, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Kharge, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha founder Shibu Soren, and Pawar, said a person aware of developments. Singh also spoke to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United) is an ally of the BJP.

Nadda spoke to Meghalaya chief minister and National People’s Party chief Conrad Sangma, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and leaders of the All Jharkhand Student Union, Naga People’s Front and some independents, said a second person aware of the details.

In the Opposition meeting, Pawar found support from all parties but he maintained that he wants to remain connected to the people and has no ambition to fight for the country’s top post.

Banerjee, who played a key role in trying to persuade Pawar, later said, “If Sharad Pawar agrees, it is okay. But he said he is not interested. If he agrees everyone will give him support. Otherwise, the name should come from the political parties. They will consult Sharad ji and others. Today is the beginning. But I think it was good that after so many months, Opposition parties sat together.”

According to two leaders aware of developments, Banerjee also proposed Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah as candidates, but no further discussion took place. Even National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Farooq’s son, suggested, “The names can be considered later. At this stage, let’s have more discussions,” the two leaders said.

“I was asked if I would consider contesting if a consensus around my name was to arise and I said I would need time to think about it,” Gopalkrishna Gandhi told HT. He was the Opposition’s nominee for the election of vice-president in 2017. He fought and lost to incumbent Venkaiah Naidu.

Congress, the largest constituent of the Opposition bloc, announced that the party has “no particular candidate in mind” but said it will play a “constructive role” in ensuring a consensus candidate and emphasised that the Opposition’s nominee for the Presidential poll “must be someone committed to upholding the Constitution of India, its values, principles and provisions in letter and spirit”.