Consensus the mantra when Oppn leaders meet at Sonia's for lunch

On a day when BJP workers clashed with the police in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the “development of the state”.

Emerging from the meeting that lasted nearly 30 minutes, Banerjee informed the media that the discussion was about the state's development, and that there was no mention about the Presidential election.

However, she did add: “APJ Abdul Kalam was a consensus candidate once; if they get a consensus candidate, that will be very good, we will be happy to see that.”

This led to speculation that Banerjee must have spoken to the PM about a consensus candidate.

Sonia Gandhi's lunch

Banerjee is on a two-day visit to Delhi, and will attend the lunch hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Parliament House on Friday.

Several other Opposition leaders have also been personally invited by the Congress president ,to informally discuss the Presidential election, in a bid to unite the Opposition to take on the BJP, which is winning one state after another with resounding majorities.

The Congress president has had a string of meeting with several top leaders of various political parties to ensure that a consensus can be reached. Interestingly, after having been missing from active politics for the last few months, largely because of ill health, Sonia is back in action, in what is being seen as a desperate attempt to stop the BJP juggernaut.

While her son and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is working towards reviving the party and preparing to hold organisational elections for key party posts, Sonia has taken the initiative to reach out to like-minded parties. The Presidential election is the first step in that direction, and a litmus test for the Opposition to get together, to counter the BJP's aggressive and militant brand of politics.

Apart from Banerjee, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar have confirmed their participation, while senior leaders of the JD(U), DMK, BSP, National Conference, among others, are expected to participate in the meeting. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul will also be present during the meeting.

The case of Nitish and Kejriwal

Earlier, there was speculation that Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar would stay away from the event.

However, party spokesperson and senior leader KC Tyagi dismissed this, and claimed that former party president Sharad Yadav would represent the party. Nitish had earlier met the Congress president, and is said to have backed incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee for a second term.

Speaking to ANI, Tyagi said: “Sharad Yadavji will be attending the meeting at Sonia ji's residence from our party. We are for a united Opposition; we have been advocating for it. Nitish ji is not able to attend the meeting as he is busy.”

However, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal has not been given an invite, on the pretext that he has not yet held any discussions with Opposition parties on the Presidential election.

The contenders

Among the top contenders for the Opposition nominee for the post of President include Sharad Yadav, former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

As reported by Catch earlier, Pawar declined Sonia's offer to be the Opposition's candidate, since he feels that the NDA is in a strong position to win the elections. Opposition leaders were hoping that Pawar's camaraderie with politicians across the spectrum could lead to a tough contest for the President's post.

Even Shiv Sena, who had not supported the NDA candidate in the last two elections, is in favour of Pawar, and claimed that the NCP boss would make an good President. However, the Opposition suffered a major setback when YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a meeting with the Prime Minister extended support to the NDA's as-yet-undeclared candidate.

The equation

At present, BJP has close to 48.5% votes of the electoral college and needs 51% to get its nominee to be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan. In these circumstances, the support of the YSR Congress could see the NDA winning the battle with a slim margin.

However, recent developments in Telangana, where the BJP is aggrssively making political inroads, have come as a setback for the ruling dispensation.

Recently, BJP President Amit Shah was in the state to promote the saffron party and accused the TRS government of failing to deliver on its promises. In a rally in Nalgonda, Shah claimed how the benefits of Central government programmes were yet to reach to the people of the state, and blamed the state government for not utilising funds worth Rs 1 lakh crore for people's good.

These statements irked TRS chief and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, who called Shah a liar and claimed that the decision to support the NDA candidate had not been taken yet. However, Shah was in no mood to back down, and reiterated his earlier position on the non-utilisation of funds. This could give opposition some hope and if they manage to get TRS on board, it could give them an outside chance of giving the NDA a tough contest.

NDA to get more support?

It is being speculated that the AIADMK and the BJD could also vote in favour of the BJP candidate. In fact, Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami met the PM on 24 May, and is said to have decided to back NDA's nominee. He, however, said that the party would decide on the issue soon, fuelling speculation on its future course of action. Meanwhile, the other faction of the AIADMK, led by O Panneerselvam, has already extended support to the NDA's nominee.

The AIADMK, TRS, BJD and YSR Congress together account for nearly 12% votes in the electoral college, and their support would be crucial for NDA to get their nominee elected. The ruling dispensation would be hoping for support from these regional parties, as well as the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal. Interestingly, even the Akali Dal had voted against NDA's candidate in the last Presidential polls.

Cards close to chest

The elections are to be held in July, and with little more than a month left before the polls, the Opposition and the NDA are holding their cards close to their chests. In fact, both sides are hoping that the other declares its candidate first, so that they can strategise accordingly.

However, if the Opposition manages to select a consensus candidate, it would be a major boost for it before the 2019 elections.

If the Opposition does mange to derail NDA's ambitions of putting its nominee in Rashtrapati Bhavan, it would set the stage for a bitter and close contest in 2019.