BJP on Sunday said that it has authorised party president J P Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold consultations with NDA partners, UPA constituents and independent MPs with regard to presidential polls scheduled for July 18 (with results being declared on July 21).
BJP general secretary Arun Singh put out a statement to this effect on Sunday afternoon, adding that the two leaders will be starting the process of consultation very soon.
This comes not just after election commission's announcement of a schedule for the presidential polls, but also with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writing to leaders of political parties and chief ministers for an opposition meeting at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on June 15 with a view to settling on a common nominee from the opposition table. Congress president Sonia Gandhi too had reached out to NCP leader Sharad Pawar for the same.
While the numbers situation with regard to electing the new President of India is in favour of the NDA, despite the alliance being in power in fewer states than before, the consultation process in both camps is for larger acceptance for their candidate.
A committee to consult with other parties had been set up even in 2017, when President Ram Nath Kovind was elected to the post. At that time, party president Amit Shah had authorised current Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu (he was minister for urban development then), then home minister Rajnath Singh and the late Arun Jaitley (who was finance minister) to consult with various parties.
The BJP is anxious that not just its testy allies like the Janata Dal (U) but fence sitting parties like the Biju Janata Dal (which had supported Mr Kovind for president, but not Mr Naidu as vice president) and the YSRCP support the NDA nominee.
Incidentally, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had already met with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the issue in early May.
