Sonia prods Pawar to be Opposition president candidate; Didi on the same page
MUMBAI: The build-up to the Presidential elections got further interesting on Sunday with indications that Congress president Sonia Gandhi wants to tap NCP chief Sharad Pawar as the united Opposition’s nominee for the highest post of the land.
Coming as it did a day after Trimanool chief Mamata Banerjee called a meeting in Delhi to discuss the Presidential polls, the psy-ops for taking the leadership mantle within the Opposition was too glaring to be missed. When Mamata got wind of Sonia’s gambit, she called up Pawar and extended her support. She also promised to rally other regional parties behind his candidature, sources said requesting anonymity.
Pawar, however, is yet to take his call. Sonia’s suggestion was conveyed to him by by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who recently called on him here. Kharge also discussed it with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. “Uddhav was positive and offered to call up other party leaders to drum up support for Pawar,” sources said. The AAP, too, tried to do an encore with party leader Sanjay Singh calling on Pawar on Sunday.
As for the BJP, it has not opened its cards yet, though it has assigned the task of holding wide consultations on the polls to its president J P Nadda and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Pawar shares a good relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Consensus pitch by BJP
Both Nadda and Rajnath will speak to as many Oppn parties as possibe, including the Trinamool and the Congress, to evolve a consensus on the candidate, keeping the sanctity of the post in mind