Presidential polls: Yashwant Sinha dials up PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, seeks support
Sinha, 84, who served as Union minister in the governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar, also reached out to Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani.
Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition's candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections, reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, seeking their support for his candidature, PTI reported.
Sinha, 84, who served as union minister in the governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar, reached out to Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani.
Also Read| ‘India currently going through…’: Yashwant Sinha's message to Opposition parties
He also telephoned Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and reminded him of the commitment that his (Hemant Soren's) party- the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) made on him being named the joint opposition's candidate for the presidential elections, a report by news agency PTI said.
Sinha is scheduled to file his nomination papers on June 27 (Monday) in the presence of top opposition leaders.
Sinha was expected to launch his campaign for the elections from his home state Jharkhand on Friday.
But he was forced to delay it when it emerged that chief minister Hemant Soren is leaning in favour of Droupadi Murmu, a fellow Santhal community member who has been chosen as the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) presidential candidate, PTI further reported.
Also Read| Droupadi Murmu files papers, calls up Opposition leaders for support
Before Yashwant Sinha, Droupadi Murmu called opposition leaders including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking support for her candidature.
The call to the opposition leaders came after Murmu filed her nomination papers in Parliament on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, Rajnath Singh, and Union home minister Amit Shah among others.
Also Read| Opposition's presidential polls candidate Yashwant Sinha gets Z security cover
The presidential elections in the country will be held on July 18 and the results will be out by July 21. President Ram Nath Kovind's term will end on July 24.
Both Yashwant Sinha and Droupadi Murmu have been provided security cover from the Centre. While Sinha has been given Z category security, Murmu will be protected under the Z+ category security.
