Leaders of several opposition parties met here on Wednesday to discuss forthcoming presidential elections and urged Sharad Pawar to be the joint candidate but the senior NCP leader declined the offer.
The meeting adopted a resolution to field a common candidate in the election slated for July 18.
The meeting was called by Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Several parties were here today. We've decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate our support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning. We sat together after several months, and we will do it again," she said after the meeting.
The meeting was attended by leaders from 17 opposition parties. It coincided with the date of notification for the presidential polls.
"In today's opposition meeting, all parties proposed the name of Sharad Pawar for presidential poll, but he said he cannot take this up now due to his health. All parties requested him to reconsider his decision," CPI leader Binoy Viswam told ANI.
Sudheendra Kulkarni said opposition parties are keen on a candidate "who can truly serve as custodian of the constitution and stop Modi government from doing further damage to Indian democracy and India's social fabric".
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party did not participate in the meeting which was held at the Constitution Club. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not send a representative to the meeting.
Congress participated in the meeting along with 16 other political parties. Apart from TMC, Congress and NCP, the parties which attended the meeting included CPI, CPI(M), CPIML, RSP, Shiv Sena, RJD, SP, National Conference, PDP, JD(S), DMK, RLD, IUML and JMM participated in the meeting held at the Constitution Club of India here. The polling for the presidential election is slated for July 18 and votes will be counted on July 21.
( With inputs from ANI )
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