Opposition looks to challenge BJP in race for country's 'First Citizen'

The Opposition will not leave the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections uncontested and will soon start looking for a common candidate who could pose an ideological challenge to the BJP-RSS.

Leaders in the Opposition are clear that there is little chance for a consensus candidate for the post of President or Vice President though formal discussions on the possible names are some time away as the polls are in July and August respectively.

Elected MPs and MLAs across the country with a total vote value of 10,90,300 form the electoral college for Presidential elections while Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs vote in the Vice Presidential elections.

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While the victory of a BJP nominee for Vice President is a foregone conclusion as NDA is expected to garner at least 500 of the 790 votes, the BJP would still need votes worth around 9,500 for a victory in Presidential polls. It banks on friendly parties like YSR Congress and BJD, which together have votes worth around 70,000. Opposition sources said there was no question of a consensus candidate and they would pitch it as an ideological battle, as the electoral fight is comfortably placed in favour of the ruling coalition.

The Opposition is expecting that the BJP may choose either a tribal or a north-east or a south Indian to be the First Citizen of the country. In such a scenario, sources said, the Opposition would also have to look at its options and names.

They cited the example of the 2017 Presidential elections when the joint Opposition fielded former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, a Dalit leader who is daughter of late Jagjivan Ram, against BJP’s Ram Nath Kovind. Initially, there were some discussions on fielding Gopalkrishna Gandhi but after Kovind’s name surfaced, parties zeroed in on Kumar. Gandhi was later chosen as a Vice Presidential candidate against BJP’s M Venkaiah Naidu.

The names that were considered also included Justice Gopal Gowda for both the Presidential and Vice Presidential polls.

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Sources said if the BJP plans to field senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and if he agrees, the Congress would be in a “bit of trouble”, as the veteran politician has fans among other Opposition parties. “It would be a difficult call to take. It will put our leadership in a spot,” a senior Congress leader said.

While they discount rumours about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar moving to Delhi as a candidate, sources said he would be an ideal candidate for the Opposition but he would have to leave the NDA fold. In 2017, he had broken ranks with the UPA when he was heading a Grand Alliance government to vote in favour of Kovind.

A senior Opposition leader said Congress should also learn to cede space and should not insist that the candidate should be from its fold. During the negotiations in 2017, sources said, Congress had insisted that the candidate should be from the party and managed to get support for Kumar.

In the 2017 Presidential polls, Kovind had polled 7,02044 votes or 65.65 per cent of the votes polled while Kumar had managed 3,67,314 votes or 34.35 per cent of the votes.

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