Presidential election: BJP Parliamentary Board to meet on Tuesday to finalise candidate

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentary Board will meet on Tuesday to finalise Presidential candidate for the upcoming election, said sources.

The BJP has also called a meeting of those MPs and MLAs who would propose and second the official candidate.

BJP allies -- Ramvilas Paswan's LJP, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP -- have already authorised Modi to take a decision on the presidential candidate, saying they would support it.

Earlier in the day, BJP president Amit Shah held a close-door meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as part of the ruling party's efforts to ensure support of allies in the presidential election.

A BJP panel on Friday met top leaders of the Congress and the Left and consulted party veteran LK Advani, but its reluctance to name candidates prompted the opposition to question the exercise aimed at evolving a broad consensus on the issue.

The BJP leaders did not propose a name but instead asked Congress leaders about their choices, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the ministers met Gandhi and other party leaders.

The presidential election will be held on July 17 and the counting of votes is slated for July 20. The tenure of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee ends on July 24.