Next President of India: Opposition firm on Gopal Krishna Gandhi

The Left parties are pushing for the candidature of Gopal Krishna Gandhi to be the next President of India. The name of the former governor of West Bengal has been doing the rounds for the past month and if the opposition stays united, then he could end up being their candidate.

Gandhi's candidature would however depend on who the BJP choses as its nominee. The opposition has been seeking a consensus candidate and this would depend on who the BJP led NDA chooses.

While the official statement after the Wednesday's opposition meet was that no names were discussed, sources say that the Left parties pushed for the candidature of Gandhi. The Congress which had okayed



Gandhi's name last month has however decided to wait for the meeting with the BJP on Friday.

BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu will meet with Sonia Gandhi on Friday to discuss the presidential elections.

A panel of ten opposition leaders have been assigned to pick the presidential candidate. If during the Friday meeting, the BJP seeks an opinion from the opposition, then the name of Gandhi is likely to be proposed.

During the opposition meet various names were discussed. The name of Sharad Pawar was ruled out as he himself did not show interest. The name of Meira Kumar was discussed, but dropped as many said she would be a weak candidate.