PM wants unanimity in President, V-P elections

PM wants unanimity in President, V-P elections

FPJ BureauUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 07:10 AM IST
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New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the President and the Vice-President elected unopposed in the elections due in the next three months.

He has asked senior union ministers to approach leaders of various parties for the unanimity, though without naming whom he wants to occupy the two highest constitutional posts. The Opposition will be offered a panel of names to finalise ones agreeable to all through consensus, the BJP sources said.

Names will be communicated only if the opposition parties agree for unanimity and do not intend to field own candidates, the sources said, pointing out that the Opposition appears not keen on avoiding the contest as seen from reports on Congress President Sonia Gandhi conferring with leaders of various parties on the issue.

However, if the contest becomes inevitable, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has enough numbers to get its candidates elected to both the posts, the sources said. They said the BJP would, however, continue to strive to prevent division of the polity on the choice of the two highest offices to ensure they remain impartial in all aspects.

Sources said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as also Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is also the state BJP chief, will be quitting their Lok Sabha seats to contest for the Assembly only after elections to the two posts in July.

They said the BJP does not want a trial of strength in the presidential election as it is rather busy now in preparing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party has launched a major “vistaar” (expansion) programme across the country, with special focus on the states that send 120 MPs to the Lok Sabha but where the party does not have much presence.

BJP President Amit Shah has kicked off his 95-day long tour of the states until September for personally meeting the social groups for the party”s expansion. He embarked on the tour from West Bengal as part of his plan to spend three days each in Odisha, Kerala, Gujarat and Lakshadweep in the next 15 days. He included Gujarat since it is not only his home state but also going for the Assembly polls in December.

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