New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Presidential election 2022, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (June 11) reached out to the Opposition leaders urging them to attend a meeting on June 15 in New Delhi to chalk out a joint strategy for the polls. In a letter to 22 Opposition leaders, Banerjee asked them to participate in a huddle at Constitution Club in Delhi. "Our hon'ble chairperson @MamataOfficial calls upon all progressive opposition forces to meet and deliberate on the future course of action keeping the Presidential elections in sight, at the Constitution Club, New Delhi on June 15 2022 at 3 PM," TMC said, as per PTI.
The West Bengal CM has written the letter to her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi among others.
The development comes after senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge held consultations with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee as well as leaders of the DMK, CPI, CPI-M and the AAP to declare a joint opposition candidate. As per PTI sources, Kharge dialed Banerjee who told him the opposition should put up a consensus candidate for the top job.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had talked to the West Bengal CM, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, requesting them to call a common meeting to discuss the joint presidential candidate, the sources said.
Presidential Elections 2022
The Election Commission announced on Thursday that polling for the next President of India will be held on July 18. As many as 4,809 electors comprising MPs and MLAs will vote to elect the next President. Incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind's term ends on July 24. The BJP’s candidate is expected to secure a comfortable win considering the saffron party's strength in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as well as in several state assemblies, as per PTI.
(With agency inputs)
