The consensus strategy for the presidential election is unlikely to work with the regional players and the main Opposition BJP not in the mood to oblige the Congress.
The BJP might not even field a candidate after realising that the regional parties, divided in different fronts, want to play a proactive role this election. “Our strategy is to have a non-Congress Rashtrapati this time. This will help us in our fight for the prime ministership in the next Lok Sabha election,” highly placed NDA sources said Monday, adding this would help expand the NDA.
The Congress has been keen on a consensus election of the next President without explaining wheth-er it is open to accepting a non-Congress presidential candidate. “We (Congress) will discuss this issue (presidential candidate) with allies, and later supporting parties, expectedly in the next week,” a highly placed source indicated.
Although “Maya, Mamata and Mulayam” would play king-makers in this election, all three cannot remain on the same side due to state-specific compulsions, an NDA leader said. This means the Congress can manage the support of either the Samajwadi Party or the BSP, the DMK or the AIADMK, and the Trinamul Congress or the Left, if a contest for the top post becomes inevitable.
The current mood in the BJP is not for a quid pro quo with the Congress for the vice-president’s post. “Why should we help the Congress if its graph is going down for different factors,” a senior BJP leader said, suggesting that consolidation of regional parties is better for the main Opposition.
The BJD, Trinamul, TDP, DMK, AIADMK and National Conference had already worked with the BJP in the NDA while BSP supremo Mayawati became UP chief minister on BJP support twice or thrice.
Meanwhile, the debate over the presidential candidate picked up further momentum with RJD chief Lalu Prasad pitching for vice-president Hamid Ansari while other parties kept their cards close to the chest. “Our vice-president, Hamid Ansari, should be made President. He is a good candidate for the President’s post. He should be upgraded to President,” Mr Lalu Yadav told reporters.