NDA: Opposition explores candidate against NDA presidential nominee

Opposition parties have begun discussions on fielding a common candidate to challenge the BJP-led Nationalist Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate for the July presidential election.

The opposition, which came together earlier this week to speak out against incidents of communal violence across India, has begun talks to field a consensus presidential candidate. The parties are expected to hold a meeting in early May on the presidential election and the alleged misuse of central agencies by the Centre.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has deputed party leaders to join forces with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to garner support for the opposition’s candidate. BJD has been giving issue-based support to the Modi government. The BJD had voted in 2019 in favor of important laws including the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill and triple talaq in Parliament. However, the opposition feels that it can convince BJD president Naveen Patnaik. A senior opposition leader told ET, “The TRS chief has started talks. This is just the beginning and we have to keep talking to each other.

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At the same time, the Left parties have also started talks on a common candidate for the post of President. CPI leader D Raja met Tejashwi Yadav of RJD on Tuesday to discuss the presidential election. Speaking to ET, Raja said, “Left parties have always been in favor of pitting the opposition candidate against the NDA candidate. This time will be no different. We have started talks and we will try to build a consensus. In the 2017 presidential elections, opposition parties came together to support former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress veteran Meira Kumar against NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. However, Kovind won with 65.65% of the votes. With the Congress rapidly diminishing in stature due to electoral defeat, the opposition camp is relying on regional players to build a consensus on the presidential candidate.

The 2022 presidential election is crucial for opposition unity. Opposition parties are looking for an opportunity to give a tough fight to BJP. From the 2017 presidential elections till now, the BJP has lost allies including Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Telugu Desam Party (TDP). It will be a numbers game that will test opposition unity.

Originally published at Pen 18