I AM NOT IN RACE FOR PRESIDENT, SAYS SUSHMA

The BJP’s core group, which will be meet on June 19, is expected to take a final decision on the NDA’s presidential candidate. The name of the candidate is likely to be announced a day after. While the names of Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, Union minister Thawar Chand Ghelot continue to make the rounds, a new name has cropped up in the saffron camp.

The name that is being whispered in saffron corridor is that of Dr Narender Jadhav, a Rajya Sabha member and an economist, educationist, public policy expert, professor and writer in English, Marathi and Hindi.

Sources said that the BJP high command is keen on him.

Mr Jadhav, who headed economic research at the RBI during the tenure of UPA-I, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha after the BJP-led NDA came to power in 2014.

While the name of external affairs minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj was also doing rounds, on Saturday she dismissed them as “rumors.” “These are rumors,” she told reporters when asked about her candidature.