New Delhi, June 16 (IANS): The government and opposition were on Friday locked in a battle of who will blink first, as a two-member BJP team began formal consultations on the President’s election with Congress and other major opposition parties, who made it clear that a consensus will not be possible without the ruling side giving the name of its candidate.
The government side described the opposition demand for disclosure of the name as “inappropriate”.
Senior ministers Rajnath Singh and M. Venkaiah Naidu met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and later CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, but placed no name of its nominee. The exercise was termed as a “PR exercise” by Yechury.
Instead, the BJP team sought from the Congress leadership the name of the opposition candidate for the July 17 election.
Interestingly, the BJP team also met veteran party leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who were once talked about as possible presidential candidates. The two ministers held discussions with Yechury and his party colleagues Prakash Karat and Brinda Karat, CPI leaders S. Sudhakar Reddy and D. Raja, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra and Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel. They also spoke to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati over phone.
The opposition leaders were told that the government and the BJP would like to finalise the candidate for the presidential poll before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on a three-nation trip on June 24.
According to sources, the Congress leaders indicated to the BJP that the presidential candidate should have secular credentials, one who upholds the Constitution and respects democratic principles.
A joint statement by the opposition parties on May 26 had mentioned that their presidential candidate would be one “who shall steadfastly defend the constitutional values of the Republic”.
Singh and Naidu are part of the three-member team constituted by Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah for discussion with political parties for the presidential polls.
After meeting the two, Yechury virtually echoed the views of the Congress leaders and expressed dismay over the government not suggesting a name.
The senior communist leader said the government side has assured them they would come up with a name after three-four days and “sought our support”.
However, government sources said disclosing the name of its candidate before consultations with political parties may not be appropriate. Sources said the government and the BJP are of the view that approaching different parties with one or a panel of names for approval without knowing their views and suggestions may not be appropriate.
They said that some political parties have already indicated their views in the matter of selection of a candidate.
The two senior leaders suggested to the CPI-M leaders to consider if putting up a candidate for the sake of it was necessary.
Venkaiah Naidu has already spoken with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP is chief ally of NDA, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss and N. Rangaswamy of the All India Congress (NR) and sought their cooperation.
While the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has assured Naidu that his party would stand by the decision of the Prime Minister, Pawar told him that he would come to Delhi and discuss the issue.
Venkaiah Naidu also spoke with JD-U leader Shard Yadav, who is in Shillong, and SP leaders Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Agarwal.
Meanwhile, BJP ally Shiv Sena floated the name of eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan for the top job if its “first choice” RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat was not acceptable.
In the same breath, Sena President Uddhav Thackeray also said that if the BJP President has a good candidate, his party (Sena) would give it a thought.
He expressed the party’s desire to have a “consensus candidate”, who would be elected without a contest.
