Presidential polls: Congress says no consensus until government discloses their candidate’s name
Ghulam Nabi Azad said during the meeting between Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Sonia Gandhi, the Union ministers did not reveal their nominee.
The Congress on Friday said the National Democratic Alliance had not disclosed the name of their presidential candidate when Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu met Congress President Sonia Gandhi earlier in the day. “Unless they give a name there can’t be any question of consensus or cooperation,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, according to IANS.
Singh and Naidu, who are part of the three-member team constituted by the Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to discuss presidential elections, met Gandhi at her residence on Friday morning. The meeting, also attended by Azad and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, lasted for 30 minutes, PTI reported. Azad said the ministers did not reveal the name of their candidate, instead asked the Congress for their nominee.
“We were expecting them to suggest a name,” Azad said. “Then we would have discussed that within our own party and with other Opposition parties.” He also said that he believes the BJP leaders had somebody’s name in their mind, but had not revealed it.
On Wednesday, the Opposition parties had deferred from finalising their presidential candidate saying they wanted to wait for the government’s proposal on the matter. The Opposition parties had formed a sub-committee in May to reach on a consensus on their presidential candidate. Singh and Naidu are also expected to meet Sitaram Yechury soon to discuss the same.
The process of filing nominations for the July 17 presidential poll began on Wednesday after the Election Commission issued a notice in this regard, the The Indian Express reported. The nomination process will continue till June 28. President Pranab Mukherjee’s term ends on July 24.
Laws were amended a few years ago to ensure that only candidates with enough support can file nominations for the election. Thus, only a candidate supported by 50 electors and seconded by another 50 can file their nomination. The electors include members of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and those of state legislative assemblies. The results will be announced on July 20 in case both the National Democratic Alliance and the opposition field their candidates in the elections.
