KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to opposition leaders, requesting them to attend a meeting on June 15 convened by her in New Delhi to prepare a joint strategy for the upcoming presidential poll.
With the Presidential poll round the corner, Banerjee has reached out to the opposition CMs and leaders to participate in the joint meeting in the national capital, according to a statement issued by her party.
The letter was addressed to 22 Opposition leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
"Our hon'ble chairperson @MamataOfficial calls upon all progressive opposition forces to meet and deliberate on the future course of action keeping the Presidential elections in sight, at the Constitution Club, New Delhi on June 15 2022 at 3 PM," Banerjee's Trinamool Congress said.
"With the Presidential election around the corner, Hon'ble CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, with an initiative of strong & effective opposition against the divisive forces, has reached out to the opposition CMs and leaders to participate in a joint meeting," the party statement said.
Poll for the President of India will be held on July 18, the Election Commission announced on Thursday, with 4,809 members of the electoral college comprising MPs and MLAs set to elect the successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind. The counting of votes will take place on July 21.
A senior member of the state cabinet, on condition of anonymity, said that the purpose of the mission is basically to consider some names which can be proposed as a unanimous opposition candidate.
"There might be discussion on whether there is a possibility for the opposition parties to announce the name of their candidate before BJP announces their nominee," he said.
He also said that preliminary discussions between Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have already been made about the probable names of candidates.
"In her two-day New Delhi tour she is expected to hold meetings with leaders of other anti-BJP forces," the member of the state cabinet said. However, he refused to name those opposition leaders with whom communication had been made for fixing meetings with Mamata Banerjee during her New Delhi tour.
The fact that Mamata Banerjee will go all out in playing a leading role in forging opposition unity on the issue of presidential polls was made clear by her in March this year.
Soon after BJP clinched victory in the assembly polls in four out of five states, including Uttar Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee said on the floor of the assembly that the game is not over yet since BJP will not be able to get its candidate elected in the presidential polls with support from other parties.
Sources said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge talked to Banerjee over the phone and that the Trinamool Congress chief wanted the opposition to come up with a consensus candidate for the top post.
Kharge's discussion with Banerjee came a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi talked to the West Bengal chief minister as well as Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, besides NCP leader Sharad Pawar and CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, asking them to organise a common meeting to discuss the issue of a joint presidential candidate, the sources said.
Kharge spoke to Tiruchi Siva of the DMK, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Elamaram Kareem of the CPI-M and Binoy Viswam of the CPI on Friday.
He will also hold discussions with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in this regard later.
He said he will be holding talks with other opposition leaders soon.
Sources said the opposition leaders would be meeting soon to discuss the issue and come out with a consensus candidate for the top constitutional post in the country.
Kharge had on Thursday called on NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai and discussed with him the issue, after Sonia Gandhi asked him to hold talks with all like-minded parties on the possibility of fielding a common candidate for the presidential poll.
He said Pawar also supported the idea.
Pawar indicated that the presidential poll issue may gain momentum after June 20, when polls to 10 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council will be held.
"Our focus currently is on the elections to Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council," Pawar told reporters.
Kharge said he will also meet Thackeray to discuss the issue.
"We will fix a meeting to discuss the possibility of fielding a common candidate," he added.
Election for the next President of India will be held on July 18 in which 4,809 electors comprising MPs and MLAs will vote to elect incumbent Ram Nath Kovind's successor, the Election Commission announced on Thursday.
Kovind's term ends on July 24.
Going by its strength in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as well as in many state assemblies, the BJP is in a comfortable position to ensure the victory of the candidate nominated by it in the upcoming election.
(With PTI and Agencies Inputs)