A day later, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee invites opposition leaders To attend a meeting in Delhi on the upcoming 15th June presidential electionTrinamool leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien met Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday.
editorial | Known Unknown: On the presidential election
Though the details of the discussion are not known, the Trinamool Congress is said to be keen on projecting a senior leader as the opposition’s presidential candidate.
Mr Kharge has been appointed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi as the key point person to coordinate with opposition leaders to decide on a common presidential candidate.
Ms Banerjee, however, wrote a letter to her counterparts in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray and MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu. He had also written letters to other top opposition leaders like NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
This prompted Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala to issue a statement late on Friday, saying Ms Gandhi had already spoken to opposition leaders, including Ms Banerjee.
“The Congress party is of the opinion that the nation needs a person in the form of President who can protect the Constitution of our country, our institutions and citizens from the on-going attack by the ruling party. This is the need of the hour. While the Congress party has not suggested a specific name for the President, we are responsible for electing a President for our people who can apply a curative touch to its fractured social fabric and our Constitution. can protect,” Mr Surjewala had said in the statement. ,