Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has called a meeting of 22 opposition parties, including the Congress, in New Delhi on June 15 to choose a united opposition candidate and plan for the presidential election next month.
Banerjee wrote letters to 22 non-BJP leaders on Saturday, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the chief ministers of eight non-BJP states. ‘The presidential elections are around the corner, presenting the perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties to reconvene and deliberate on the future course of Indian politics,’ she wrote.
‘In perusal of the same, I urge you to kindly make it convenient for all of us to meet at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on June 15 at 3 pm,’ the letter said. The election commission announced on Thursday that the presidential election will take place on July 18, six days before President Ram Nath Kovind’s term ends. On July 21, the votes will be counted. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, is a few thousand votes short of a majority for its favoured candidate, but it can make up the difference with backing from regional parties.
‘The election is monumental because it gives legislators the opportunity to participate in deciding the head of the state who is the custodian of our democracy. At a time when our democracy is going through troubled times, I believe that a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour; to echo the deprived and unrepresented communities,’ Banerjee wrote in her letter.
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