Presidential Poll Updates: Sharad Pawar Won’t Contest; Mamata Proposes Farooq Abdullah, Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s Names

At the opposition meeting in Delhi today, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed the names of National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi as nominees for the July Presidential elections, sources said. NCP Sharad Pawar refused to contest the polls at the beginning of the meeting, sources added.

At the meeting, Farooq Abdullah’s son and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah, however, asked not to discuss the names for the Presidential polls today, sources said.

Banerjee, who had called the meeting to forge a consensus of opposition parties on a common Presidential election nominee, said at a press conference, ?Several parties were here today. We?ve decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate our support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning. We sat together after several months, and we will do it again.?

The next meeting to further discuss the names will be held in Delhi on June 21.

The crucial meeting of non-BJP parties began at 3 pm in Delhi?s constitution club. The presidential election is slated to take place on July 18.

Mamata Banerjee had written to 22 Opposition parties, inviting them to be part of a platform against ?divisive forces?. Leaders of at least 17 parties were in attendance.

Along with the Congress, NCP, SP, RJD, NC, CPM, CPI, JMM, Shiv Sena, IUML, PDP, JDS, and RLD were among those who attended the meeting, while Naveen Patnaik?s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are among those who have decided to skip the meet. TRS and SAD have reportedly refused the invite due to Congress?s presence.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Singh Surjewala were representing the Congress at the meeting.

Mamata Banerjee and leaders of two Left parties had met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence on Tuesday separately to try and convince him to be the common opposition candidate for the top constitutional post. The Maratha strongman, who has friends across the deeply divided political spectrum, however, turned down the proposal, sources in the opposition camp said.

Meanwhile, on being asked about the presidential election race, Gopalkirhsna Gandhi told news agency PTI, “It is too premature to comment on it.?

Track the latest updates in Mamata Banerjee?s Opposition meet:

Meeting over 

The meeting of Opposition leaders at the Constitution Club has ended. At the meeting, the Opposition set a 21 June deadline to name a presidential nominee.

Binoy Viswam, CPI leader said that all parties proposed the name of Sharad Pawar for the Presidential poll, but he said he cannot take this up now due to his health. All parties requested him to reconsider his decision.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, meanwhile, said at the press conference that the opposition leaders adopted a resolution to choose a candidate who can truly serve as custodian of the Constitution and stop the Modi govt from doing further damage to Indian democracy and India?s social fabric.

Congress?s Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge were among those who attended the meeting. Shiv Sena?s Priyanka Chaturvedi, RSP leader NK Premchandran, RJD?s Manoj Jha, CPI-M?s Elamaram Karim and Omar Abdullah, representing the NC, were also in attendance.

AAP decides to skip meet, SP to ?support whatever? Mamata decides; No Invite Sent to YSRCP

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not be attending the Opposition parties? meet called by Mamata Banerjee as party supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is in Punjab.

AAP will consider the issue only after the candidate for the upcoming Presidential election is declared, sources told news agency ANI.

On the other hand, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that his party will support whatever Mamata Banerjee will decide.

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy skipped the meeting, with sources saying that YSRCP will be supporting the NDA candidate in the poll.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi has sought time to think over the matter

Banerjee suggested the name of Mahatma Gandhi?s grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, for the upcoming presidential poll after Sharad Pawar turned down the offer.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi has sought time to think over the matter, sources said. Gandhi was the consensus opposition candidate for the post of vice president of India in 2017 but had lost to M Venkaiah Naidu in the election.

Sources said some opposition leaders talked to Gandhi over the phone and urged him to consider their request for being the joint opposition candidate for the post of President. The sources added that some other names are also being considered and the opposition leaders have reached out to them also to seek their consent. Gandhi, who was governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009, has sought some time from these leaders and will get back to them by Wednesday, the sources said.

Sharad Pawar pulls out of the presidential race

While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief appeared to be one of the prospective candidates for the presidential election, the veteran leader, however, turned down Mamata Banerjee?s offer and said he wants to remain in active politics.

Pawar, who has good personal equations with Narendra Modi despite his public criticism of the prime minister on political issues, declined the offer to become the joint opposition candidate.

Apart from Mamata Banerjee, Pawar met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, and NCP leaders Praful Patel and PC Chacko during the day and conveyed to them his decision to not contest the election.

People of Maharashtra will be happier if Pawar accepts offer: Sena

Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, who will represent the party the meeting for presidential poll, told News18 that people of Maharashtra and the Sena ?will be happier if Sharad Pawar ji accepts to be the candidate?.

?He will have our support. We will be happy to back him. We will try to convince him,? Desai said.

He added that his party?s agenda in the meeting is to give suggestions and to listen to the views of other regional parties. ?Unity of opposition is important to stand against the BJP and the means that the BJP has been using,? he said.

Left unhappy at Mamata Banerjee?s ?unilateral? decision 

Miffed at the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee?s ?unilateral? decision to call a meeting for discussion on a joint presidential nominee, the CPI(M) and the CPI on Tuesday said they will send their MPs to the opposition meet to be held in Delhi on Wednesday. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief.

The CPI(M) will be represented in the meeting by the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Elamaram Kareem. Yechury has also written a letter to Banerjee saying such meetings of opposition parties have always followed a procedure of prior mutual consultations to enable the maximum participation of those wishing to join. ?However, in this instance, we received a unilateral communication informing the date, time, venue and agenda. Your letter mentions ?a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour?. This could have been better achieved if there had been mutual consultation and a proper time to enable party leaders to reschedule their prior commitments to attend such a meeting. ?Unfortunately, there were only three days between the receipt of your letter and the date of the meeting,? said Yechury.

Congress to attend Opposition meet

The Congress, despite its reservations over Banerjee unilaterally convening the meeting, has decided to send its representatives. Congress sources said Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala are likely to attend the meeting.

The Congress, in spite of its diminution following a string of electoral losses, retains its preeminence among opposition parties because of its pan India presence. It was also the first off the blocks to start exploring the possibility of putting up a joint opposition candidate for the presidential election. Soon after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the election, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had nominated Kharge as the interlocutor to engage other opposition parties in discussions.

With numbers on its side?the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college?and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, AIADMK and YSRCP, its candidate will likely sail through the contest.

BJD, TRS, SAD not to attend Opposition meeting today

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by CM K Chandrashekar Rao will not be attending the opposition meeting on Tuesday.

TRS is said to have taken the decision to skip the meet after hours of consultations by its chief president K Chandrashekar Rao with senior party leaders till late in the night on Tuesday.

It was not right on the part of Banerjee to invited Congress even after the TRS had expressed its objections towards the party, the report mentioned sources as saying.

Sources have said that KCR won’t back any candidate endorsed by the Congress.

Shriromani Akali Dal has also opted out of the meeting due to the presence of Congress, a party leader said.