Presidential Election 2022: Sharad Pawar To Decide Next Opposition Meet, Expected To Be Held On Jun 20-21

Presidential Election 2022: The parties are likely to come up with names of leaders who may be universally accepted at the next meeting, they added.

Presidential Election 2022.

Source : Getty Images

Presidential Election 2022: The next meeting of key opposition parties to discuss on a consensus candidate for the upcoming Presidential election is expected to take place on June 20-21 by NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai, according to top leaders, news agency PTI reported.

Following the first meeting convened in Delhi by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and attended by 17 parties, the leaders said that a consensus candidate who will "uphold the democratic ethos of the country" will be picked as the opposition nominee.

The parties are likely to come up with names of leaders who may be universally accepted at the next meeting, they added.

While Banerjee listed National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi as possible candidates, senior opposition leaders acknowledged the comment was made in jest and "not seriously."

Former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi was the consensus opposition candidate for the post of Vice President of India in 2017, however, he was defeated in the election by M Venkaiah Naidu.

He is Mahatma Gandhi's and C Rajagopalachari's grandson.

Several opposition leaders pushed NCP supremo Sharad Pawar to be the unified opposition candidate for the presidential election at a meeting on Wednesday, but the veteran politician rejected.

At the key gathering of opposition parties to develop consensus on fielding a common candidate against the BJP-led NDA in the presidential election, 17 opposition parties participated.

The Trinamool Congress supremo summoned the Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP, DMK, RJD, and Left parties to a two-hour meeting, but the AAP, SAD, AIMIM, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and Odisha's governing BJD did not.

Shiv Sena, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), National Conference, PDP, JD(S), RSP, IUML, RLD, and JMM leaders were among those in attendance.

On Wednesday, the nomination process for the presidential election on July 18 began.

(With Inputs From PTI)