Opposition stands united in upcoming presidential election

NEW DELHI: Some opposition party leaders are exploring the possibility of fielding a “united opposition candidate” in the upcoming presidential election, building on the unity displayed by leaders of more than a dozen parties who met President Pranab Mukherjee over alleged tampering of electronic voting machines on Thursday.

Some opposition leaders have already initiated informal discussions on this, sources privy to the development said.

“The growing atmosphere of hostile ideological and political confrontation from ruling side have prompted us to have some informal discussions about the option of the opposition unitedly contesting the presidential polls,” said a leader involved in the exercise. “Let us see how it plays out.”




Several opposition leaders met Mukherjee on the last day of the budget session of Parliament and handed over an 11-point petition against the attitude of the Narendra Modi-led government on various issues as well as their complaints about alleged tampering of EVMs in the recent state elections.

The presidential election is slated for July. The electoral college for choosing the next president consists of Members of Parliament and MLAs of states and the union territories. After BJP’s huge electoral victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and success in forming coalition governments in Goa and Manipur, the party and NDA now have a clear upper hand in the number games to elect a president of its choice.

Senior leaders of some opposition parties, however, feel they should “force a contest” in order to register a larger political and ideological statement of Opposition unity against the policies of the NDA government and BJP, even though the government-backed candidate is expected to win the race.

While most opposition parties officially maintain that they are waiting to see who is NDA’s presidential candidate before deciding on their own options, it is reliably learnt that informal discussions on the option of fielding a “a credible joint opposition candidate” have started among some senior Congress leaders and some leaders of ‘like-minded’ opposition parties in the last few days.

These leaders feel that if the ruling side fields a candidate “totally identified with BJP”, it can brighten the chances many Opposition parties uniting for a contest.

Informed sources said the initial effort is three-fold: to firm up a collective view on having a presidential contest within the Congress leadership and among opposition parties that have been coordinating on common causes; then to explore contacts with other opposition parties that remain nonaligned so far; and finally, zeroing on a leader with larger acceptability across opposition parties.

Sources said that some of the interlocutors will soon informally reach out to leaders of various regional parties in the larger opposition block, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Odisha chief minister Navin Patnaik.

Patnaik, who had backed BJPbacked P A Sangma against Pranab Mukherjee in the last Presidential contest, early this week said BJD will first see whom BJP is fielding as presidential nominee before deciding on its stance.