The Opposition has reportedly zeroed in on Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav and Gopal Krishna Gandhi, in their order of preference, as its joint presidential nominee in the event of a contest for the June 25 poll for the next occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Both Pawar and Gandhi are said to be lukewarm to the idea while Sharad Yadav’s candidature is aimed at checkmating Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and keeping the Janata Dal (U) votes intact.

The combined Opposition’s expectation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking a lead to work out a consensus is a bit rich. In 2007 the UPA had not cared to invite LK Advani and others before finalising Pratibha Patil’s name.

Sonia Gandhi, along with the Left, had shown scant regard for outgoing President APJ Kalam, who had nursed a last minute desire to be a consensus candidate. Except for Rajendra Prasad, no other President has earned a second term though incumbents from the days of Shankar Dayal Sharma to Kalam have tried to lobby for it.

To be fair to Modi, he is under no compulsion to consider Pranab Mukherjee, a UPA nominee and former Congressman, for a second term. It must be remembered that even in 2012, the BJP and the NDA had taken a conscious decision to oppose Mukherjee and force a contest. This was in spite of Mukherjee’s otherwise excellent rapport with Advani and other BJP leaders.

When 17 Opposition parties buried their differences and met recently to discuss the strategy for the presidential election, many leaders informally weighed the option of fielding Sharad Yadav as a nominee for the post of President in case the NDA were to come up with a candidate with links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Yadav is an old war horse. As a young socialist leader, he had provided a spark to the movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan by winning the Jabalpur bypoll against the Congress. That was not the only time when Yadav found himself in the spotlight. In 1981, Yadav stood to challenge none other than Rajiv Gandhi from Amethi. Rajiv was contesting from the family pocket borough to succeed his brother, Sanjay. Yadav, on the other hand, was the candidate put up by a united Opposition.

This time too the leader of the Janata Dal (United) seems to be finding favour among the Opposition parties. But what about Yadav's boss, Nitish Kumar? Doubts persist about Kumar endorsing the Opposition's choice of Yadav as a nominee. There are whispers about Kumar's growing closeness with his former - now estranged - ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party. This cannot be good news for Yadav.

The coming presidential poll offers a window of opportunity for an otherwise demoralised and dispirited Opposition. Purely in theoretical terms, the combined Opposition has more votes than the NDA. It is a different matter that regional players like AIADMK, TRS, YSR Congress, BJD and other non NDA parties have a potential of breaking ranks and helping out the Modi Government.

An electoral college, consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the legislative Assemblies of States and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry elects the President of India. The total strength of the electoral college is 1098,882 and the NDA on its own has a strength of 53,1442, falling short of just 18,000 votes from the majority mark of 54,9442.

The NDA has to manage the shortfall by roping in either one or all the three non-NDA parties — the AIADMK, the TRS and the BJD. The Opposition, if it wants to win, will have to ensure that not only the non-BJP Opposition parties stay united but also win over one or two of the BJP's allies.

Presidential polls have a history of turning the country’s political fortunes. The numbers game for Rashtrapati Bhavan began in 1967, when the united Opposition under the banner of Samyukta Vidhayak Dal nominated a former Chief Justice of India, K Subba Rao. Rao was the author of the famous Golaknath vs State of Punjab where he ruled that Fundamental Rights could not be amended by Parliament.

The Congress, led by Indira Gandhi, was quick to oppose Subba Rao. She sought support from the Left parties to get Zakir Hussain elected as President. When Zakir Hussain died on May 3, 1969 in office, Indira Gandhi stunned her own party managers by backing VV Giri. The Congress issued a whip to vote for Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. Indira Gandhi appealed to all Congress MPs and MLAs to vote according to their 'conscience'. Giri was elected and Indira Gandhi was subsequently expelled from the Congress. The party split and the rest is history.

In the present context, the combined Opposition is wary of Modi’s growing popularity among the masses. They also apprehend that if the Opposition remains divided it will soon become politically irrelevant.

Therefore, parallel efforts are currently going on to unite the non-BJP parties for putting up a joint fight. It is easier said than done. The recent outcome of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election has shown that lack of unity and harmony between cadre of different ‘alliance partners' strengthened the BJP rather than countering it.

Perhaps it is time for the Opposition to contest the presidential poll symbolically than letting their energy and efforts go to waste fighting a battle it is set to lose.

(Rasheed Kidwai is the Associate Editor with The Telegraph. His Twitter handle is: @rasheedkidwai)

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