Will protest if consensus candidate for next President of India not selected: Opposition

The Presidential elections will be held in July.

The opposition has decided to launch a massive agitation if the National Democratic Alliance does not chose a consensus candidate for the next President of India. After a series of meetings on Friday, the opposition leaders said that the NDA must put up a consensus candidate. The elections will be held in July.

A consensus can only be built if the NDA government initiates talk and invite us for a discussion. Otherwise, we would a launch a massive political agitation said JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav. He was speaking after attending a meeting headed by Sonia Gandhi in which 17 parties took part.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Normal practice has been that the ruling party takes initiative to build consensus on names of candidates (President and Vice President).
This hasn't happened so far, if acceptable consensual candidates don't emerge then we (opposition parties) shall decide our future course of action," he added.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja said that no name for the Presidential candidate has been discussed, adding that the Opposition is waiting for the Centre to initiate talks on the same.

"It is for the party in power to reach out to the Opposition. We want a person who is known for his commitment to the Constitution and who can uphold secular, democratic values of our society in the country," Raja told ANI.

OneIndia News