Joint candidate for presidential poll will unite opposition against BJP: Sharad Yadav

Unity in the opposition ranks is the need of the hour as a division in the non-BJP votes has been a key reason behind the saffron party’s win in civic elections, said Yadav.

New Delhi, April 30: A united Opposition candidate for the presidential elections will be the beginning of unity among the non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties to take on the BJP, senior Janata Dal United leader Sharad Yadav, seen as one of the probable Opposition choices, said on Sunday.

Having met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week as part of efforts to put up a joint Opposition candidate for the high-stakes polls, the former JD-U president said that "the success of this exercise could go a long way in arresting the BJP's surge across the country."

Asked about the likelihood of major opposition parties agreeing to back a common candidate against the BJP-led NDA's choice, he told that he was hopeful that it will happen. "We are making efforts to get as many opposition parties as possible on a common platform for the presidential election. A joint candidate will be the beginning of the coming together of Opposition parties against the BJP," he said.

The Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister noted that even in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won an unprecedented 312 seats out of the total 403, the combined votes of the Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress were much more than it.

Asked who could be the opposition candidate for the presidential polls, he said that "names would be discussed at a later stage as the first priority is to bring these parties together. With his vast parliamentary experience, Yadav is seen by some as one of the probable choices for a common opposition candidate for the presidential polls." He declined to comment on this.

PTI