In the latest development in the Presidential election, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi has turned down opposition parties' request to contest the election, according to NDTV report.
The 77-year-old is the third political person after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah to have withdrawn their names as probable opposition nominees for the July elections.
"Several esteemed leaders of the Opposition have done me the honour of thinking of me for the Opposition's candidature in the upcoming elections for the highest office of Rashtrapati. I am most grateful to them. But having considered the matter deeply I see that the Opposition's candidate should be one who will generate a national consensus and a national atmosphere beside Opposition unity. I feel there will be others who will do this far better than I," Gandhi said.
The process to elect a new president began on June 15. The last date for filing of nominations is June 29. The polls, if necessary, will be held on July 18 and the counting on July.
