Mamata proposes Farooq Abdullah’s name for opposition’s presidential candidate

SRINAGAR — Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday proposed the name of National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah for the opposition’s presidential candidate after NCP leader Sharad Pawar declined the offer, reports said here.

Reports reaching Kashmir News Service (KNS) said that Mamata Banerjee, who had met Sharad Pawar last evening, proposed his name as soon as the meeting of opposition parties started today.

They said that when Sharad Pawar refused the offer, she suggested two options, which included former Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah.

Notably, the presidential elections will take place on July 18 and the results will be declared on July 21, while June 29 is the last date for nominations.

Opposition parties have been holding meetings to reach a consensus to decide on the presidential candidate for the post.

Omar, Mehbooba participates in opposition meeting to discuss presidential polls

Jammu & Kashmir’s regional parties National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party participated in the meeting convened by TMC President Mamta Banerjee in New Delhi to discuss the opposition’s strategy for the presidential poll slated on July 18.

Sources told news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that NC’s Vice President Omar Abdullah and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti turned up to participate in the meeting.

The total vote value of NC MPs in the presidential polls is 2100 as it has three members in the Lok Sabha. The value of the vote of an MP is 700.

Interestingly, PDP’s vote value in the election is zero as it doesn’t have any members in the Lok Sabha.

In the 2017 presidential election, NC voted for opposition candidate Meira Kumar and PDP MPs and MLAs supported BJP’s Ram Nath Kovind.