NEW DELHI: With presidential polls around the corner, BJP president JP Nadda and Union minister Rajnath Singh have started discussions with different political parties in an effort to arrive at a consensus on the choice for the top constitutional post.
In a statement, the BJP said the two senior leaders will talk to both ruling NDA and opposition UPA constituents, besides other political parties as well as independent members.
At present, JD(U), RLSP, Apna Dal, AIADMK, JJP, NPP, NPF, AGP are among the partners of the BJP-led NDA.
Opposition parties had accused the BJP during the last presidential polls in 2017 of reaching out to them at the last moment, after it had already finalised the choice of Ram Nath Kovind, who went on the become the president.
The opposition had forced a contest by backing Meira Kumar, who lost to Kovind.
The government as well as the opposition is yet to name any candidate for the Presidential polls which will be held on July 18.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have also begun deliberations on the polls with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday.
It is to be noted that ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was Pawar who had urged the AAP and Congress to have an understanding in Delhi to counter the BJP. However, this did not materialise.
On Saturday, West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee wrote to 22 opposition chief ministers and leaders and invited them for a meeting on June 15 to hold discussions on the presidential elections.
(With inputs from agencies)