Opposition parties have begun discussions on fielding a common candidate to challenge the BJP-led Nationalist Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate for the July presidential election. It has started with the consensus of the opposition against incidents of communal violence. The parties are expected to hold a meeting in early May on the presidential election and the alleged misuse of central agencies by the Centre.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi President and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has deputed party leaders to bring together the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to garner support for the opposition candidate. Let us tell you that BJD has been giving issue-based support to the Modi government. The BJD had voted in 2019 in favor of important laws including the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill and triple talaq in Parliament. However, the opposition feels that it can convince BJD president Naveen Patnaik. According to a report in Economic Times, a senior opposition leader said, “The TRS chief has started talks. This is just the beginning and we have to keep talking to each other.
At the same time, the Left parties have also started talks on a common candidate for the post of President. CPI leader D Raja met Tejashwi Yadav of RJD on Tuesday to discuss the presidential election. According to the Economic Times report, Raja said, “Left parties have always been in favor of pitting the opposition candidate against the NDA candidate. This time will be no different. We have started talks and we will try to build a consensus.
In the 2017 presidential elections, opposition parties came together to support former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress veteran Meira Kumar against NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. However, Kovind won the election with a total of 65.65% votes. With the Congress rapidly reducing in stature due to consecutive electoral defeats, the opposition camp is relying on regional parties to build a consensus on the presidential candidate.
The 2022 presidential election is crucial for opposition unity. Opposition parties are looking for an opportunity to give a tough fight to BJP. Since the 2017 presidential elections, the BJP has lost allies including Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Telugu Desam Party (TDP). It will be a numbers game that will test opposition unity.