Presidential Polls: Sharad Pawar Wanted Telangana CM On Board.

The Presidential polls have turned out to be an acid test for the unity of the opposition parties, with former Governor of West Bengal Gopalakrishna Gandhi, too, expressing his disinclination to be in the fray.

Earlier, senior politicians and NCP(Nationalist Congress Party) supremo Sharad Pawar had also turned down the proposal of some Opposition parties to be nominated for the Presidential polls.

It is now being disclosed that Pawar had opted out of the Presidential elections for a few reasons, including the absence of Telangana CM KCR in the group of leaders that announced his name as the opposition party’s candidate.

The NCP leader, thinking on the same lines as Rao, was keen to get him on board, but the Congress and Trinamool Congress did not show similar interest in this proposal.

According to reports, Pawar wanted to rope in the Telangana CM to announce a single candidate of the entire Opposition for the elections. However, Congress and Trinamool had other plans. It is learned that Pawar had admitted to one of his close associates that Chandrashekhar Rao had a valid point. But now it was too late; he told his party leader.

The other reason the NCP chief pulled out of the Presidential election was the early announcement of his candidature. Premature publicity had done irreparable damage. Health issues were also said to be the reason for declining the Opposition’s offer.

Further, Pawar appears to have been upset with TMC president Mamata Banerjee for skipping the meeting on Tuesday. It was TMC President, who is learned to have suggested the date and venue for the meeting, but was eventually skipping it herself. And this appears to have not gone well with the NCP chief.

The election process commenced on June 15, and the last date for filing nominations is June 29. As per the election notification, the polls will be held on July 18 and the counting on July 21.