BJP Expected To Select Presidential Candidate In Parliamentary Board Meeting Today, PM Modi To Attend Virtually: Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate virtually at the meeting.
New Delhi: While the opposition has yet to select a candidate for the July 18 presidential election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will have its parliamentary board meeting on Tuesday, where it is expected to finalise its choice for the race, according to the sources, news agency ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate virtually at the meeting.
The BJP has already assembled a 14-member electoral management team. The team is led by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
On Sunday, BJP leader JP Nadda had an important meeting with members of the management team to discuss the impending election. Senior leaders such as Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwini Vaishnaw, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Vinod Tawde, CT Ravi, Sambit Patra, and others attended the conference.
Notably, Nadda and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh have been tasked with having negotiations with various major parties over the presidential candidate.
They have met with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, but no agreement has been reached.
Nominations must be submitted by June 29, polling will take place on July 18, and votes will be tabulated on July 21.
On June 15, opposition leaders convened in the nation's capital and declared their decision to nominate a single consensus candidate in the presidential election.
Leaders from 17 political parties attended a critical opposition party conference held by Mamata Banerjee to reach an agreement on fielding a unified candidate against the NDA in the presidential elections. The TMC, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPIML, RSP, Shiv Sena, NCP, RJD, SP, National Conference, PDP, JD(S), DMK, RLD, IUML, and JMM all attended the meeting, which was place on June 15 at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi.
(With Inputs From ANI)