Oppn may pick Gopal Gandhi as candidate for Presidency

new delhi — Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson and former governor of West Bengal, Gopal Krishna Gandhi, is likely to emerge as the united opposition’s candidate in the presidential election that will be held in July.

Last week, after a discussion in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Gopal Gandhi’s name came up and was received with big applause by all the main parties. Following this, according to reports, preliminary discussions with Gopal Gandhi have taken place, and he seems to be positively disposed to the suggestion.

Though bitter enemies, CPM and Trinamool Congress, which together has more than 64,000 proportionate votes in the electoral college, are also backing Gopal Gandhi’s candidature. The president is chosen by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of parliament, the elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and the Union Territories.

Gandhi’s name was suggested by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. A few years ago, she had recommended Gopal Gandhi as the vice-president candidate, sources close to the chief minister said.

Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon to chalk out a winning strategy for the presidential election. According to reports, the West Bengal chief minister will arrive in Delhi on Monday and is likely to meet the Congress chief on Tuesday. The two share a warm relationship.

Trinamool Congress’ votes are crucial for the opposition to give a close fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The left parties have already agreed in principle on Gandhi’s name. The Left had said they wanted a “secular person” as president.

This is in the context of the ruling BJP hinting at the possibility that the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, could be their candidate, although other names have been bandied about. If Bhagwat indeed becomes the president , the saffronisation of the Modi regime would be complete.

Gopal Gandhi is an eminent scholar and a former civil servant. He was appointed as the governor of West Bengal during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. He was India’s ambassador to South Africa among other countries. The son of Devdas Gandhi also enjoys a clean image; not an easy achievement in the scandalously corrupt Indian politics.

One opposition leader also pointed out that although Gandhi is an ideal candidate with excellent credentials, he may not be able to garner votes from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

Recently, Sonia Gandhi had held meetings with Sharad Pawar. At that time Pawar had said he was not interested in running for the presidential election. But Pawar is known to be mercurial, and might yet change his mind.

A section of the regional parties is keen to field Pawar as he enjoys rapport across party lines and may be able to secure votes from the BJP’s biggest ally, Shiv Sena.

This is a matter of speculation, as Shiv Sena on Monday suggested Mohan Bhagwat as the ideal candidate for president of a “Hindu India”.

The names of Draupadi Murmu, Sumitra Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj, M. Venkaiah Naidu, are also doing the rounds as the NDA’s likely presidential nominees.

But you would be safe to bet on Bhagwat.