President polls::Nadda, Rajnath to hold talks with NDA, other parties

Bharatiya Janata Party has authorised its president J P Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold consultations with different political parties for the upcoming Presidential election. The term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind is ending on the 24th of next month. In a statement, BJP said, both the senior leaders of the party will discuss with NDA partners, UPA-aligned parties, other political parties and independents the president's election. In a statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the two senior leaders will talk to both ruling NDA and opposition UPA constituents, besides other political parties as well as independent members. Consultation will focus on a proposed BJP-led NDA nominee for the post of President of India.

Presidential polls, if required, will be held on July 18 and counting of votes will take place on July 21. In an electoral college of around 10.86 lakh votes for the polls, the BJP and its alliance partners are a little short of the halfway mark. BJP leaders said that while their party favoured a consensus over the next President and since it was difficult to achieve, the consultations would aim to garner maximum support for the NDA candidate.The BJP’s statement comes against the backdrop of the party’s rivals starting an exercise to put up a joint candidate of the Opposition for the election scheduled for July 18.