The first meeting between the government and the Opposition on Friday on the nominee for the July 17 presidential election ended inconclusively, without any names being discussed by the either side.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and M. Venkaiah Naidu met Congress president Sonia Gandhi as part of the BJP’s bid for a consensus on the official nominee. The meeting lasted 30 minutes.
“Government has not come forward with any name for the presidential election and has asked if the Opposition has any name for the top post,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the meeting.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was also present in the meeting.
The meeting comes barely two days after a sub-group of Opposition leaders constituted by Ms. Gandhi met in Mr. Azad’s Parliament chamber to discuss the Opposition strategy. The meeting decided to wait for the government proposal on the matter before taking a further view.
