Metro man E Sreedharan NDA’s nominee for Presidential poll?

NEW DELHI: BJP negotiators reached out to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu over the presidential poll in a bid to enlarge a consensus over an NDA nominee.

The outreach came even as speculation continued about the NDA’s likely choice with a news website suggesting that former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan could be in consideration even though the possibility of a non-political selection is remote.

BJP has not suggested any name so far, with party chief Amit Shah having said this will not be revealed prematurely.


Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu spoke to Pawar and will meet the veteran Maharashtra neta soon. It is understood that the TDP chief does not have a specific criteria and will be willing to consider any choice put forward by PM Narendra Modi.

BJP sources said Naidu and home minister Rajnath Singh are likely to seek suggestions from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who they are scheduled to meet on Friday.

“We would like to hear what the opposition is considering and keep that in the discussions on the presidential candidate,” a BJP member said.

The talks have revealed room for consensus though Left parties remain opposed to any NDA nominee. Congress has reservations too, though its spokesperson said there is need for consensus.

This may suggest that BJP needs to pick a choice acceptable to the opposition. Congress on Thursday said the party would prefer a consensus candidate and it would be good if the government understood the need for unanimity on the issue.

AICC spokesperson Anand Sharma said, “Congress has tried to bring about a consensus on every important issue. But the picture is not yet clear on the issue of the presidential election.”