Yechury seeks Patnaik’s help on presidential candidate

‘BJD may consider his proposal for nominee with secular credentials’

Seeking support: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Communist Party of India (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Thursday that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has assured him to positively consider his proposal of fielding a candidate acceptable to all secular opposition parties in the presidential poll in July.

“Mr. Patnaik assured me to work for consensus on a suitable presidential candidate with secular credentials,” said Mr. Yechury after his meeting with Mr. Patnaik at the State Secretariat here.

Observing that the President of India is the custodian of the Constitution and needs to have commitment towards secularism, Mr. Yechury said his appeal to all non-NDA parties was to field a candidate who can undertake secular supervision at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Responding to a question on the TMC's participation in the process, Mr. Yechury said that parties who believed in secularism are welcome.

Mr. Yechury’s meeting with Mr. Patnaik carries significance as non-NDA opposition parties are trying their best to put up a united candidate in the forthcoming presidential poll.

BJP’s threat

The BJD has been adopting the policy for maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Patnaik may finally agree to Mr. Yechury’s proposal since the BJP has started posing a threat to his party after the recent panchayat elections in the State, sources in the BJD said.

The situation may change in case the BJP-led NDA throws a surprise by fielding Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu, a tribal leader who hails from Odisha, as its candidate for the presidential polls, according to political analysts.