Presidential polls: ‘Neutral parties’ in demand

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury meets Naveen Patnaik; he will soon be talking to YSR Congress and DMK.

Course of action: CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar.

Opposition parties that have come together to try and field a common candidate for the presidential polls are now looking at “neutral parties” to boost their numbers. They are working to see if they can close the shortfall of approximately 20,000 votes that the BJP-led NDA needs to win the elections.

These Opposition parties, top sources said, is particularly looking at the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) that has till recently said it was equidistant from the BJP and the Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and the YSR Congress that are not part of either alliance.

In broad agreement

To this end, on Thursday, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury met Odisha Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. While Mr. Patnaik did not give a direct answer, he was “in broad agreement with the idea of (fielding) a secular candidate”, CPI-M sources said.

Later, BJD MP Tathagatha Sathapathy told

The Hindu , “Personally, I would not like to support a BJP-backed nominee for President but I don’t know yet the thinking in the party.”

The BJD’s concern has grown ever since the BJP displaced the Congress as the No. 2 party in Odisha after the recent panchayat polls in the State.

Last month in New Delhi, to a question on the presidential elections, Mr. Patnaik had pointed out that last time, he had proposed the name of former Lok Sabha Speaker P. Sangma: “He was the BJD candidate then.” For this election however, he said, “Let us see who the candidates are this time.”

Mr. Yechury will soon be talking to the YSR Congress and the DMK.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPI chief S. Sudhakar Reddy have been in touch with TRS leader K. Keshava Rao. However, TRS MP Jithender Reddy told The Hindu , “We will take an issue-based decision that will take into account the welfare of Telangana. As of now, we are neutral.”

The Trinamool Congress has not been spoken to but a senior party MP said, “The mood in the party is to join hands with the Opposition parties to field a common candidate.” The Opposition strategy appears to be to call a meeting closer to the notification for the presidential poll that will be announced in mid-June. This will be after achieving a broad consensus among all secular anti-BJP parties, followed by an effort to rope in the “neutral” parties.