Need candidate with impeccable secular credentials for prez

There is a need to field a candidate with impeccable secular credentials for the presidential elections in July considering the "situation prevailing in the country", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said today.

His remarks came at a time when "like-minded" opposition parties are mulling over fielding a common candidate for the presidential polls.

The Marxist party has already agreed to the idea of fielding a consensual candidate.

"Do you want communal supervision or secular supervision of the Constitution? We want secular supervision," he said, replying to a query by media persons.

Opposition leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, have held a series of meetings over the issue recently.
 

Gandhi has been at the forefront of efforts for forging opposition unity on fielding a joint presidential candidate.

Pranab Mukherjee, a Congress veteran who was elected as president in 2012, will demit office in July.