Ahead of a meeting of Opposition parties on Wednesday to discuss their nominee for Presidential election, Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the ruling BJP will talk to all parties to evolve a consensus on a common nominee. The election to select the next President is scheduled for July 17 and counting on July 20.
Naidu is the part of a three-member committee formed by BJP president Amit Shah to hold consultations with BJP’s allies as well as Opposition parties on the presidential candidate for the upcoming poll. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are the other two members of the BJP committee.
“We have started internal consultations. We are the ruling party and we have to take everyone on board and work towards evolving a broad consensus (for a Presidential nominee) and seek their support,” Naidu told reporters on Monday.
Asserting that the exercise will be done in the “true spirit of democracy”, he “appealed to all that they should go by the mandate of the people which is for this Government”. He also said that in coming days, the BJP committee members would be talking to leaders of other political parties.
Meanwhile, leaders of top Opposition parties are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to reach a consensus on a joint candidate. The 10-member group set up by the Opposition will meet for the first time after its constitution.
Several rounds of talks have already been held among senior Opposition leaders on the issue. The Opposition is waiting for the ruling dispensation to come up with its candidate and will discuss if the name proposed by the NDA is acceptable to them.
A senior Opposition leader said if there is no consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition, the Opposition would put up a joint candidate against the NDA nominee. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge represent the party in the 10-member group, which also includes other senior leaders: JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav, RJD’s lalu Prasad and CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury. DMK’s Rajya Sabha member RS Bharathi, Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP Satish Chandra Mishra, TMC’s Derek O’Brien and NCP’s Praful Patel.
While the ruling party is holding its cards close to its chest, the Opposition has already discussed the names of possible candidates and has held talks with one, former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Among the other names doing the rounds are those of former Speaker Meira Kumar, former Union Ministers Sharad Pawar and Sharad Yadav.
In a related development, a committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has been constituted to oversee arrangements of oath-taking ceremony of the 14th President of India.
The top bureaucrat of the country will coordinate with all Ministries concerned to ensure that the inauguration ceremony proceeds smoothly.