If sources are to be believed, Mamata Banerjee had suggested the names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
New Delhi: Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, and former West Bengal Governor, has turned down offer to be the Opposition’s candidate for the upcoming presidential polls.
“Opposition’s presidential candidate should generate national consensus, there will be others who will do this far better than I,” Mr. Gandhi said as he declined the opposition’s offer.
Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and former CM of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah had also declined the offer for the presidential polls, scheduled to be held on July 18.
Last week, a meeting of opposition leaders was called by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi to formulate a joint strategy for the upcoming presidential elections.
Following the meeting, TMC matriarch Mamata Banerjee said, “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.”
If sources are to be believed, Mamata Banerjee had suggested the names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi as opposition candidates for the presidential polls.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has named Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as convenor of its election management committee. BJP general secretaries Vinod Tawde and C T Ravi are the co-conveners of this committee.
The team also includes Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, and Sarbananda Sonowal, MoS Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, MoS Health Bharti Pawar, National general Secretary Tarun Chugh, National Vice President DK Aruna as well as National Secretary Rituraj Sinha. BJP women’s wing chief Vanathi Srinivas, Lok Sabha MP from Silchar Dr. Rajdeep Roy and BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra are also part of this election management committee.
The 16th Presidential polls will be held on July 18 and the counting of votes will be held on July 21.
The date for the filing of nominations is June 30 and the final date for withdrawal of candidature is 2 July.
Current president Ram Nath Kovind serving as the 14th President of India took office on July 25, 2017, and his tenure comes to an end on July 24, 2022.
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