JOIN USThe government will consult the Opposition leaders on the Presidential candidate once it makes up its mind, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
Jaitley’s response at a press conference here was to a query on the Opposition recently urging the government to declare its candidate first and also create a consensus on the candidate for the Presidential poll ahead of Pranab Mukherjee’s term.
The BJP is likely to hold consultations with its NDA allies and Opposition leaders after the Election Commission of India notifies the poll schedule around mid-June, as it happened in 2012, a party leader said.
The polling had taken place on July 19, that year. A top BJP leader had recently said that serious exercise on the Presidential poll will begin after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns home this weekend from his on-going four-nation tour.
Though the party top brass is searching for a suitable candidate, who has all the accomplishments to carry a social message, for the top Constitutional post, it has not been able to lay its hand on any particular person, said BJP sources.
The BJP’s hunt for a face is spread over a wide range of background — from socially and economically backward to achievers in fields. An eminent personality’s name had come up during internal discussion, but he was not found above board on all the parameters the prime minister had in mind for Rashtrapati Bhavan, said sources aware of the developments.
The BJP leadership, after identifying probables, will hold consultations with its ideological mentor RSS to shortlist the final candidate for the top Constitutional post.