After the refusal of NCP president Sharad Pawar to run for the presidency, a meeting of the opposition has started in New Delhi today. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee had invited the country's opposition parties to challenge the BJP. As many as 17 opposition parties have turned up in response to Mamata Banerjee's call.
The meeting convened by Mamata Banerjee was attended by NCP President Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, Priyanka Chaturvedi from Shiv Sena, Deepankar Bhattacharya from Left, Manoj Jha from RJD, Mehbooba Mufti from PDP, Farooq Abdullah from National Conference, Randeep Surjewala from Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh. Jayant Chaudhary of RLD and TR Balu of DMK are present.
No one from K Chandrasekhar Rao's TRS party, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, BSP, YSR Congress, BJD and Akali Dal came to the meeting. These parties skipped the opposition meeting. According to sources, some parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) were not invited to the meeting. Parties that did not attend the invitation include TRS, BJD, Aam Aadmi Party and Akali Dal.
According to sources, the meeting is likely to discuss some of the names of the presidential candidates. A committee will be set up to consider the name. Its presidency could be given to NCP president Sharad Pawar or a senior leader.
The ruling NDA is leading in terms of numbers. If it gets the support of parties like BJD, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Yuvajan Shramik Raithu Congress Party (YSRCP), then the victory of NDA candidate is considered certain. According to sources, the ruling NDA is scrutinizing a candidate for the presidency.
Voting for the presidency will take place on July 18 next month. Incumbent President Ramnath Kovind's term ends on July 24. So now there is going to be an election for the presidency. The Election Commission has announced the notification of the Presidential election.