Mamata calls Oppn meeting over presidential poll
Joydeep Thakur and Saubhadra Chatterjee
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called a meeting of 22 opposition parties, including the Congress, in New Delhi on June 15 to decide on a united opposition candidate and strategise for next month’s presidential election.
Banerjee on Saturday sent letters to 22 non-bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of eight nonbjp ruled states. “The presidential elections are around the corner, presenting the perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties to reconvene and deliberate on the future course of Indian politics,” she wrote.
“In perusal of the same, I urge you to kindly make it convenient for all of us to meet at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on June 15 at 3 pm,” the letter said.
The election commission on Thursday had announced that the presidential election will be held on July 18, six days before term of President Ram Nath Kovind ends. Votes will be counted on July 21. The Bjp-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a few thousand votes short of majority for its preferred candidate — a deficit it can make up with support from regional parties.
In her letter, Banerjee said, “The election is monumental because it gives legislators the opportunity to participate in deciding the head of the state who is the custodian of our democracy. At a time when our democracy is going through troubled times, I believe that a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour; to echo the deprived and unrepresented communities.”
Welcoming the initiative, a Congress leader said setting up a united opposition candidate is badly needed and indications are that it would be a non-congress candidate. “There are no names as of now. We have to find a strong political candidate. Let’s name evolve organically at the meeting on June 15,” the leader said.
The list of people she wrote to includes Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
Late on Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi reached out to Opposition leaders over the presidential election. “Congress President Sonia Gandhi had reached out and deliberated the issue of the upcoming Presidential
Election with Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and some other Opposition leaders. As per her discussions with other opposition leaders, she deputed the LOP, Mallikarjun Kharge to co-ordinate with other leaders in view of her ill health owing to Covid,” party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.
“The Congress is of the opinion that the nation needs a person as President, who can protect the Constitution, our institutions and citizenry from the ongoing onslaught by the ruling party. This is the need of the hour. While the Congress Party has not suggested a particular name, we owe it to our people to elect a President, who can apply a healing touch to its fractured social fabric and defend our Constitution. The time is ripe to rise above our differences for the sake of our nation and its people. Discussions and deliberations have to be open minded and in keeping with this spirit. We believe that INC along with other political parties should be taking this discussion forward,” he added.