West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is in Delhi for the crucial meeting of non-BJP parties she has called in a bid to forge a consensus for fielding a joint candidate against the NDA in the presidential election which is slated to take place on July 18.
Mamata Banerjee recently wrote to 22 Opposition parties, inviting them to be part of a platform against “divisive forces”.
Along with the Congress, NCP, SP, RJD, NC, AAP, CPM, CPI, JMM, Shiv Sena, IUML, PDP, JDS, RLD are among those likely to attend the meeting, while Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are among those who have decided skip the meet.
It is learnt that senior Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Singh Surjewala will represent the Congress at the meeting called by the Trinamool Congress leader.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee and leaders of two Left parties met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence separately to try and convince him to be the common opposition candidate for the top constitutional post. The Maratha strongman, who has friends across the deeply divided political spectrum, however, turned down the proposalsources in the opposition camp said.
Track latest updates in Mamata Banerjee’s Opposition meet:
Mamata Banerjee in Delhi for Opposition meet
The West Bengal chief minister is in the national capital for the meeting she has convened on Wednesday to explore the possibility of formulating a common strategy with other opposition parties for the presidential poll where the BJP-led NDA has an unmistakable edge given its strength in Parliament and state and union territory assemblies. Banerjee’s decision has, however, come in for sharp criticism by the Left, a TMC adversary in West Bengal.
Sharad Pawar pulls out of presidential race
While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief appeared to be one of the prospective candidates for the presidential election, the veteran leader, however, turned down Mamata Banerjee’s offer and said he wants to remain in active politics.
Pawar, who has good personal equations with Narendra Modi despite his public criticism of the prime minister on political issues, declined the offer to become the joint opposition candidate.
ALSO READ: Sharad Pawar Out of Presidential Race? NCP Says He ‘Won’t Restrict Himself to Rashtrapati Bhavan’
Pawar met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, and NCP leaders Praful Patel and P C Chacko during the day and conveyed to them his decision to not contest the election.
TMC miffed at Mamata Banerjee’s ‘unilateral’ decision
Miffed at the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s “unilateral” decision to call a meeting for discussion on a joint presidential nominee, the CPI(M) and the CPI on Tuesday said they will send their MPs to the opposition meet to be held in Delhi on Wednesday. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief.
The CPI(M) will be represented in the meeting by the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Elamaram Kareem. Yechury has also written a letter to Banerjee saying such meetings of opposition parties have always followed a procedure of prior mutual consultations to enable the maximum participation of those wishing to join. “However, in this instance, we received a unilateral communication informing the date, time, venue and agenda. Your letter mentions ‘a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour’. This could have been better achieved if there had been mutual consultation and a proper time to enable party leaders to reschedule their prior commitments to attend such a meeting. “Unfortunately, there were only three days between the receipt of your letter and the date of the meeting,” said Yechury.
Congress to attend Opposition meet
The Congress, despite its reservations over Banerjee unilaterally convening the meeting, has decided to send its representatives. Congress sources said Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala are likely to attend the meeting.
The Congress, in spite of its diminution following a string of electoral losses, retains its preeminence among opposition parties because of its pan India presence. It was also the first off the blocks to start exploring the possibility of putting up a joint opposition candidate for the presidential election. Soon after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the election, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had nominated Kharge as the interlocutor to engage other opposition parties in discussions.
With numbers on its side–the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college–and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, AIADMK and YSRCP, its candidate will likely sail through the contest.
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