Sharad Pawar to be co-ordinator of Oppn's subgroup on presidential polls

It could pave the way for him emerging as leader of a united Opposition for 2019 polls

The Opposition has formed a subgroup of leaders to take forward discussions on fielding a common candidate for the presidential and vice presidential polls. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is likely to be the coordinator of this subgroup, and by virtue of this could emerge as the leader of a united Opposition in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

According to sources, other members of the group are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury.

As both Banerjee and Yechury are its members, the subgroup is unlikely to have a common meeting. Yechury's party and Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress are rivals in West Bengal and the two leaders do not want to be seen sharing a common platform. However, both leaders had attended the lunch for Opposition parties that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had hosted on 26 May.

As the coordinator of the subgroup, Pawar has been entrusted with holding individual consultations with other members to build a consensus on the issue. In turn, members of the group will reach out to leaders of regional parties.

Today at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the Congress president said that former prime minister Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, other colleagues and she have met the leaders of like-minded parties to find commonly acceptable candidates for the posts of India's President and Vice President. A subgroup of representatives has been constituted to take this forward, she said.

"In a few weeks we will be electing the President and Vice President of our republic. In times such as these, it is even more essential that those who occupy this august office protect the Constitution," Sonia Gandhi said, addressing the Congress Working Committee meeting.

President Pranab Mukherjee completes his five-year term on July 24, while Vice President Hamid Ansari's second term ends on August 10. The Opposition said no consensus has emerged on a joint candidate, but names that have been discussed are former West Bengal governor and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav and Congress leader Meira Kumar. Pawar has said that he isn't keen to be the candidate.

The Opposition, however, is likely to wait for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to announce its presidential candidate before opening its cards.