Opposition parties will meet on Thursday to decide their presidential nominee, a day after the Janata Dal(United) decided to support the National Democratic Alliance candidate for president, Ram Nath Kovind. Following the JD(U)’s announcement, there were hectic discussions between various Opposition leaders on how to keep their side together, reported PTI.

The Congress, which is coordinating the meeting, expressed hope that all parties that attended the May 26 luncheon hosted by party President Sonia Gandhi will be present on Thursday.

Possible nominees

Moreover, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s (pictured above) meeting with Gandhi on Wednesday has fuelled speculation that she has emerged the front runner among the Opposition’s choices for a presidential nominee. However, both All India Congress Committee Spokesperson Manish Tewari and senior Left leaders denied these rumours.

Tewari said the name of the Opposition’s nominee was a “hypothetical” question, adding that the Opposition would decide on a joint strategy. The Left, on the other hand, said, “Senior Congress leaders spoke to Left leaders over the telephone about tomorrow’s meeting. Though [Meira] Kumar and [former Union minister Sushilkumar] Shinde’s names are doing the rounds, there was no formal or informal word from the Congress side.”

Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Agrawal also said that Opposition parties would jointly take a call on a candidate at the Thursday meeting. However, SP senior leader Mulayam Singh Yadav was present at a Yoga Day event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

The Opposition is expected to field a Dalit candidate against Ram Nath Kovind. Apart from Meira Kumar, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi are also among the probable candidates.

The presidential election will be held on July 17. Current President Pranab Mukherjee finishes his term on July 24.