Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday spoke to opposition leaders Mamata Banerjee, Mallikarjun Kharge and Akhilesh Yadav to evolve a consensus for the presidential candidate for the elections on July 18. Sources said the senior BJP leader made calls to these leaders, on a day the opposition held a big meeting to discuss a joint candidate for the polls.
The BJP has authorised Singh and national president JP Nadda to consult with other parties for building consensus on a presidential candidate. The defence minister made calls to Kharge, Banerjee and Yadav besides some other leaders. Opposition leaders asked Singh about BJP-led NDA’s nominee for the presidential election, sources added.
At the opposition meeting, however, two more names — National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi — emerged after NCP chief Sharad Pawar declined to be a candidate. The filing of nominations began from Wednesday.
With inputs from News18, PTI
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