Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Union minister Sharad Pawar has ‘virtually’ ruled himself out of race for Presidential post for which elections will be held before July 24.
Pawar, however, said that there could be a ‘consensus candidate’ from both the opposition and the ruling coalition, if Prime Minister Narendra Modi opts for it.
“I will not be there as candidate in the Presidential election. But if Prime Minister decides then he could avoid the election,” Pawar said.
“The BJP has enough numbers with them. If Modi decides to hold discussion with opposition over the Presidential election, a consensus candidate could emerge,” he added.
The leader’s reaction comes in the wake of reports suggesting that the Shiv Sena, a key ally of the ruing NDA government, has put forward his name and wanted the ‘big brother’ the alliance -- BJP to back the NCP chief too.
“Pawar is a worthy leader and has the right credentials to become the country's next President in July when the term of President Pranab Mukherjee ends,” Sena leader Sanjay Raut said here on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Monday, NCP general secretary DP Tripathi also played down the suggestion of nominating Pawar for the top Constitutional post.
“Pawar is our party president, head of our Parliament party. Now, there is no question (of Pawar being in the race to be the next President). There could be several other leaders who can contest (the polls),” Tripathi said.
Tripathi noted that the ruling parties are falling short by 15,000 votes for the presidential polls and sought to wait to see if they want to field a consensus candidate along with opposition.
"If they decide to field a consensus candidate, all parties (including opposition) will think over it. It depends on what their approach is going to be. There is still lot of time, different parties will think over it," he added.
Having assumed the office in 2012, President Pranab Mukherjee's term in the Rashtrapati Bhavan is scheduled to get over this July.
Rumours suggest that Left leaders are also pushing Pawar’s name as the opposition candidate. However, Pawar has himself asked Left leaders to consider Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla’s name.
Heptulla, who is considered very close to Pawar, had in 2004 quit the Congress and joined the BJP. She was a Cabinet Minister in Narendra Modi’s government before being appointed as Governor.
Meanwhile, former Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav said that the non-BJP parties are trying to arrive at a consensus to select a common candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
"Bringing the non-BJP parties together for putting up a common candidate for the presidential poll is not easy. But there is enough time for it as the poll is scheduled for July. After coming together, these parties will decide who will be their common candidate," Yadav said, adding that ‘the parties have not started discussing any names yet’.
The BJP's thumping victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have lent a sense of urgency to the opposition's efforts to forge unity ahead of the presidential election.
