Earlier Mamata Banerjee met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in Mumbai separately to try and convince him to be the common opposition candidate for the top constitutional post. Mamata Banerjee had earlier written a letter to 22 leaders, including Left parties, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of opposition-ruled states.
Here are five updates ahead of the big meet of the opposition leaders today:
Leaders who would take part in the meeting include former minister HD Deve Gowda and his son and Janata Dal (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Chaudhary and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti.
MK Stalin's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will be represented by TR Baalu while Shiv Sena's Subhash Desai will attend the meeting. Samajwadi Party and National Conference will also attend the meeting.
Sources said Congress will also participate in the meeting to be held at the Constitution Club. Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala are likely to attend the meeting. Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja on Tuesday said that Left parties are likely to attend the meeting. CPI-M and other Left parties are rivals of the ruling TMC in Bengal.
Parties which may skip today's meeting:
Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, which has been invited, is unlikely to attend the meeting.
Former BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal is also invited for the meeting but it is unlikely to attend the meeting.
"Aam Aadmi Party will not participate in the meeting of Opposition parties to be held today regarding the Presidential Elections. AAP will consider the matter only after the Presidential candidate is declared," sources said as reported by ANI on Wednesday.
With numbers on its side--the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college--and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, AIADMK and YSRCP, its candidate will likely sail through the contest.
