Consultations on the next Presidential candidate gained momentum on Wednesday with the Left parties indicating their support to a Congress candidate while Bharatiya Janata Party began lobbying for its nominee and Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
Leaders of four Left parties met in New Delhi on Wednesday and came out with broad criteria for their support -- the candidate should have secular credentials, experience in public life and Parliament, and one who could ensure balance between the judiciary, Parliament and the executive.
For the record, at a press conference after the hour-long meeting, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat did not disclose the Left's strategy, saying they had only finalised the criteria, which should be fulfilled by the Presidential candidate. No names were finalised, he maintained.
The candidate to be 'put up by all of us should be a person of political stature, should have requisite political background and experience to fulfill the responsibilities under the Constitution, create a balance between Executive, Judiciary and Legislature and have an integral knowledge of the functioning of the political system,' he said.
While observers their criteria seem to fit Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Left sources indicated that they want Congress to decide soon on one of its two candidates Pranab Mukherjee and Sushil Kumar Shinde.
On the basis of these criteria, the Left parties have already held a round of consultations with Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and other parties both 'within the UPA and outside.'
'We have reached a common ground on the selection of candidate and it is possible that it will be finalised in the next few days,' Karat said in the presence of the top leaders of CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc.
The BJP also began lobbying for Shekhawat's candidature for Presidency with its chief Rajnath Singh met former Prime Ministers V P Singh and Chandrashekhar and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh for support.
Singh spent two hours meeting the leaders, a day after the NDA authorised former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to name the opposition's presidential candidate for the highest office as Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee suggested the 84-year-old BJP veteran was best suited for the nomination.
His move is part of the BJP's plans to lobby across the party lines to win support for the opposition nominee. The BJP chief, whose party is seeking a consensus within NDA over Shekhawat's name for presidential nomination, visited Chandrashekar and Amar Singh in New Delhi.
A BJP source said the party was also in touch with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati in connection with the presidential elections.
