Leaders from various Opposition parties are scheduled to meet later on Wednesday at Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s office in New Delhi to decide on their presidential candidate and also discuss their strategy ahead of the polls, PTI reported. The 10-member group of representatives from the Opposition parties will meet on Wednesday for the first time since its constitution.

The Election Commission had announced that the last date for filing nominations was June 28. The presidential election will be held on July 17 and the counting of votes will take place on July 20. President Pranab Mukherjee’s term is slated to end on July 24.

The Election Commission had announced that the last date for filing nominations was June 28. The presidential election will be held on July 17 and the counting of votes will take place on July 20. President Pranab Mukherjee’s term is slated to end on July 24.

While, Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge would represent Congress in the 10-member group, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) are also part of the panel. Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, Nationalist Congress Party’s Praful Patel, Ram Gopal Yadav for the Samajwadi Party, Chandan Mishra for the Bahujan Samaj Party and RS Bharathi for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will also be present, PTI reported.

The names that have been doing the rounds for the country’s top constitutional post are of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The ruling National Democratic Alliance government has not yet revealed the name of their candidate.

The Opposition panel was formed not only to decide on a consensus candidate for the presidential election, but also to strengthen the Opposition’s unity, The Hindu reported. The committee will also decide on a candidate for vice president as Hamid Ansari’s term is set to end in August this year.

It was reported on Tuesday that Amit Shah had formed a three-member panel of senior ministers to start consulting allies on NDA’s choice of presidential candidate. The panel includes Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh.