The ruling BJP on Monday constituted a three-member committee including senior ministers and party leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu to consult with other political parties on the President’s election.
“This committee will consult leaders of different political parties over the Presidential poll and try to evolve a consensus,” a BJP statement said. Party president Amit Shah had indicated earlier that other parties will be consulted “at the appropriate time”. There has been no indication from the ruling party so far about its preference for any particular candidate.
June 28 is the last date for filing nominations and, if there is no political consensus, the date for electing the next President is July 17.
Effectively, Home Minister Singh, Finance Minister Jaitley and the Urban Development Minister Naidu have just about two weeks to parley with opposition parties on who should be the next President.
If an election does take place, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has an upper hand in it. The poll takes place among elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the Assemblies of States and Union Territories. Each MP carries a weight of 708 votes while the value of an MLA’s vote varies in line with the population of the State that he/she represents.
The total pool is about 10.99 lakh votes with nearly half coming from the 4,120 MLAs and the other half from 776 MPs of both Houses.
With its recent victory in UP and additional seats won through by-elections in other States, the BJP and its allies hold over 47.5 per cent of the electoral pool. To shore up its numbers, the BJP has also been in touch with the YSR Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Regional allies YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy has already met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TRS, which has 17 MPs and 82 MLAs and a strength of 1.6 per cent, will also contribute to the NDA candidate’s victory.
Favourable noises have also been heard from the AIADMK, which holds about 5.4 per cent of the value of votes.
The Opposition, on its part, has been keenly watching who the BJP will favour. It has indicated its preference for a “secular” and “widely acceptable” candidate. A committee has been formed under NCP supremo Sharad Pawar to monitor the BJP’s moves and search for an Opposition candidate.
Show of unity But the BJP, which is in command of what looks like a majority, is highly unlikely to entertain the Opposition’s suggestions. The Opposition, especially the Congress and the Left, are looking to make the Presidential election a show of its unity as well as a dry run for the formation of a future Grand Alliance.
A senior member of the Opposition who is rallying forces to fight the BJP in the Presidential polls explained why they are fighting an election with a strong possibility to lose.
“The idea is to get our numbers together and forge an alliance. We want to prove to the BJP that it will be not a cakewalk. We would have been happier if they were to agree to Pranab Mukherjee but in the absence of this consensus, we will fight,” he said.