Presidential Poll: Sharad Pawar takes control of Oppn campaign
Sinha to travel to J&K having no Assembly as a mark of solidarity with its people
NEW DELHI: Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition candidate for the presidential poll, will visit during his campaign Jammu and Kashmir, which has no legislative Assembly, as a mark of solidarity with its people, his campaign manager said on Wednesday.
The electoral college for the election of the President of India comprises elected members of the two houses of Parliament and legislative Assemblies of states and union territories. The legislative assembly in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has not been elected yet.
“Even though Jammu and Kashmir does not have an Assembly and people there are not participating in the presidential election, the idea is to make a political point that it is very unfortunate that the most important part of the Republic - Jammu and Kashmir is deprived of the Assembly.
“Sinha’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir is to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir,” Sudheendra Kulkarni, politician and columnist, who is managing the former union minister’s presidential campaign, told.
Sinha will visit Jammu and Kashmir on July 9, he said.
Meanwhile, senior leaders of opposition parties Wednesday met at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and took stock of Sinha’s campaign.
Sources close to them said Pawar has assumed charge of the campaign strategy.
The leaders who attended the meeting included Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s Bhalchandra Kango and A D Singh of the RJD. Kulkarni was also present..
Some other members of
Even though J&K does not have an Assembly and people there are not participating in the presidential election, the idea is to make a political point that it is very unfortunate that the most important part of the Republic - J&K is deprived of the Assembly
the campaign committee for the July 18 poll also joined them online.
It was decided at the meeting that Yashwant Sinha will visit Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and Gujarat on Friday, after which he would go to Jammu and Kashmir on July 9.
Kulkarni said he briefed the opposition leaders on Sinha’s campaign which started from Kerala, followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.