BJP team meets Oppn, but no word on Prez nominee

New Delhi, With just a month left for the Presidential poll, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu — members of the committee constituted by BJP chief Amit Shah to finalise a consensus candidate — today called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other Opposition leaders, but there was no word on the probables.
The party reportedly prepared “four sets of nomination papers” with 50 proposers and as many endorsers, meaning a show of might of nearly 400 MPs and MLAs.
The two BJP leaders also called on veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who could have been the party’s natural choices for the two top posts — President and Vice-President — had they not been pressed with criminal charges in the Babri Masjid case.
The meeting appeared to be a part of an effort to show that the BJP leadership was keeping the sidelined members of the “margdarshak mandal” informed about the ongoing developments given that sources close to Advani said there was “nothing” in the meeting.
Amid speculation that the first hint on the party’s choice for the two top posts can be expected around June 19-20, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called on President Pranab Mukherjee. The “innocuous” lunch appointment, as party sources insisted it was, set rife speculation about the possibility of a second term for Mukherjee or Bhawat himself being the candidate. The RSS said the “courtesy” call was “pre-decided at the invitation of the President”.
Sources close to the President said the meeting was part of the series of farewell events being organised before Mukherjee demits office. As Opposition leaders criticised the committee for not suggesting any name, sources said the government and the BJP were both of the view that “approaching different parties with a panel of names for approval without knowing their views and suggestions on the matter may not be appropriate”.
They said some parties had indicated views on the candidate’s selection and the government would finalise the candidate before the PM leaves for the foreign tour on June 24.