BJP president Amit Shah put off his tour of Arunachal Pradesh, scheduled from Monday, amid heightened political activity around the Presidential polls. The poll time table was announced by the Election Commission last week.
The last date for nominations for the polls is June 28, with the polls scheduled for July 17 (if required). Party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav confirmed to The Hindu that Mr. Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh (part of his organisational outreach for the party) had been put off and that the latter would be in Delhi for the next two days. However, he did not comment on why this had happened. “The trip has been put off, and the party president will be in Delhi for the next two days,” he said. On being specifically asked whether this was because of scheduled consultations for the presidential polls, Mr. Yadav said that he had no comment to offer.
Sources in the party however said that meetings could take place between Prime Minister Modi and Mr. Shah, because of which the latter has been asked to stay on in Delhi.
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The party’s national executive, again scheduled for July 15-16 in Vishakapatnam, could also be moved to August to accommodate the calendar for presidential polls. Senior leaders added that a meeting of NDA constituents could be called as early as next week for similar consultations for an NDA nominee for the post of President of India.
NDA constituent Shiv Sena has been a source of worry due to its blow hot blowcold relationship with the BJP in Maharashtra. But BJP leaders say that the NDA is well within striking distance of getting its own candidate elected as President because of expected support from parties like the YSR Congress, AIADMK and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).