For the first time, the Congress Party has decided not to push for a Congress candidate for the presidential elections. The idea of Opposition unity is being pushed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi directly and it is for this reason that she is amenable to the idea of Gopal Gandhi as the presidential candidate.
Many non-Congress parties are also not keen to have a candidate from the Congress stable and that is why Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson is emerging as a front runner for the combined Opposition candidate. Sources in the Congress Party confirmed that the reason why Sonia Gandhi is open to a non-Congress candidate is because she doesn’t want to give a walkover to BJP which has the numbers this time around for the presidential election.
Though former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s name also came up for discussion, there weren’t many takers. Many in the Opposition are of the view that since BJP is going to propose an insider’s name for the President, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson may work as a glue for the entire Opposition.
Sources also said that even Mamata Banerjee is amenable to this idea. A formal meeting between the West Bengal CM and Sonia Gandhi is scheduled for the third week of May. Sonia Gandhi in this regard has already met Omar Abdullah, Sitaram Yechuri and Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The idea is that unity during the presidential polls should be a precursor for a grand alliance against BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress is hopeful that many regional satraps who feel threatened by BJP’s aggressive expansion may come around for a common front. But the irony of the matter is that the idea of a front against BJP is an admission to the fact that Congress has reduced in stature.
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