Opposition Parties to Field a Common Candidate in the Presidential Poll, Sharad Pawar Says ‘No’ to the Offer

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 15: Most of the non-BJP and non-NDA political parties on Wednesday decided to put up a common candidate against the NDA nominee for the presidential elections and initiated a search after the veteran politician and the Nationalist Congress party chief Sharad Pawar refused to foot the bill.

The opposition parties began the search for a common candidate even as the BJP-led central government started contacting the opposition parties through the defence minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders for a consensus candidate for the highest office in the country. According to reports, Singh spoke to West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav for a consensus candidate. He also called Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to deliberate upon the presidential polls.

After Pawar declined the offer to be the presidential candidate of the combined opposition parties, Mamata Banerjee, who had convened the meeting of the opposition parties at the Constitution Club in Delhi, reportedly suggested the names of Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi or the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah but no final decision was taken on the issue.

The meeting decided that Ms Banerjee, Pawar and Mallikarjun Kharge will discuss with various non-BJP parties to arrive at a common candidate for the presidential poll by June 21. The Presidential elections are scheduled to be held on July 18.

Pawar later put out his statement that he has declined the proposal of the opposition parties to suggest his name as a candidate for the election of the President of India. “I am happy to continue my service for the wellbeing of the common man,” Pawar tweeted explaining why he said ‘no’ to the proposal.

Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee had last week invited leaders of opposition political parties to produce ‘a confluence of opposition voices’ for the July 18 election. Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel of the NCP, Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala of the Congress, H D Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), Akhilesh Yadav of the SP, Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference attended the meeting on Wednesday, while TRS, AAP and BJD stayed away.

Mamata Banerjee had invited 22 parties but 17 attended the meeting. Among those present were the leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Left parties, leaders of Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) [CPI(ML)], National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)], Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) were among those who attended the meeting, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) skipped it.

The Akali Dal and the AAP opted out, protesting the Congress’ presence. AAP said it will “consider the matter only after the Presidential candidate is declared.” The TRS said there was “no question of sharing any platform with the Congress.” The party said the Congress had been invited despite its objections and lashed out at its leader Rahul Gandhi. It also accused the Congress of “ganging up with the BJP” in Telangana, especially in the recent bypolls.

Addressing a media conference after the meeting, Banerjee said, “Several parties were here today. We have decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate their support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning. We sat together after several months, and we will do it again,” Banerjee said.