While the Opposition seems to be in a bit of a struggle to pick their candidate for the Presidential polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to hold its parliamentary board meeting in Delhi on Tuesday where it is likely to finalise its nominee for the election slated to be held on July 18, sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to join the meeting virtually.
The BJP parliamentary board meeting comes a day after party president JP Nadda held a key meet on Sunday to brainstorm on the upcoming election in which members of the management team were present.
Meanwhile, with three of its probable presidential candidates declining to contest, leaders of Opposition parties will meet in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon to finalise a joint nominee for the Presidential election. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, NC chief Farooq Abdullah and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi have so far turned down the offer to be Opposition’s Presidential polls candidate.
They have held talks with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah but no outcome has come so far.
Sharad Pawar will be chairing the meeting of leaders from 17 Opposition parties on Tuesday amid hopes of further strengthening the anti-BJP coalition.
Some Opposition parties have suggested former Union minister and Trinamool Congress vice president Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate for the presidential election, a senior Trinamool Congress leader said in Kolkata.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has received phone calls suggesting the 85-year-old veteran leader’s name and she too is now pitching for Sinha as the joint opposition nominee, he said.
With inputs from News18