'To save Indian democracy, opposition parties must be united in fight against BJP': Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge ahead of Prez polls

Ahead of the Presidential elections, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday appealed that all opposition parties must be united in the fight against BJP. Today, opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha filed his nomination papers for the July 18 election, with a host of leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Farooq Abdullah accompanying him. Sinha was named as the common opposition candidate for the presidential election on June 21.

Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We are all rooting for Yashwant Sinha."

"In order to save the Indian democracy, & to defend our Constitution, we must all be united in our fight against BJP," Kharge said adding that over 17 parties are backing us.

"Over 17 parties are backing us. In order to save the Indian democracy, & to defend our Constitution, we must all be united in our fight against BJP. We are all rooting for Yashwant Sinha," Kharge was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Significantly, TRS leader K T Rama Rao, the son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was also present when Yashwant Sinha filed his papers today.

Sinha handed over four sets of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, who is the returning officer for the presidential election.

After filing the nomination papers, Sinha paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar at their statues inside Parliament complex.

Sinha, a former bureaucrat and a union minister during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, was decided as the joint candidate for the presidential election on June 21 at a meeting of several opposition leaders.

He is likely to launch his campaign from June 28 from Chennai in Tamil Nadu and will cover the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka as well during his first round of campaigning.

On the other hand, NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu filed her nomination papers last week.

The election for the office of the President of India is scheduled for July 18 and the counting of votes, if needed, will be done on July 21.