File Picture : Twitter / ANI
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is not keen on contesting the Presidential election, according to a senior party leader, even as some opposition parties have backed his candidature for the race to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The issue came up for discussion after Pawar met Maharashtra NCP ministers in Mumbai on Monday. An NCP minister, who attended the meeting, said Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh met Pawar on Sunday and affirmed his party’s support to the NCP chief for the election for the next President of India, to be held on July 18.
Last week, when senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was in Mumbai in connection with the Rajya Sabha polls, he pitched for Pawar’s name as the opposition’s joint candidate for the presidential polls.
Kharge said the Congress had even consulted the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over Pawar’s candidature.
“But, I don’t think he is keen on it (contesting polls). Saheb (Pawar) is a people’s man who loves meeting people. He will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the minister from the NCP said.
More importantly, Pawar is busy trying to bring the opposition together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said.
The Congress has been reaching out to other opposition parties for a common candidate for the presidential polls.
