New Delhi:The opposition may announce the name of a joint candidate for the vice presidential polls following a strategy meeting of all opposition parties at Parliament library today.
Taking a different course, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will not participate in the meeting.
While the opposition has not formalised the name of any vice presidential candidate as yet, there is already a broad consensus on two things; one, that after Meira Kumar's nomination as presidential candidate, no person affiliated with the Congress should be nominated as the joint VP candidate.
There is also a consensus that with time running out, the opposition parties should announce the name of their VP candidate even though the NDA government has not, as yet, announced the name of its own VP nominee.
The Left has also indicated that it remains committed to contesting the polls even though the numbers will be stacked in favour of the NDA nominee. A senior Left leader said they are even willing to consider a candidate who has no political affiliation.
During the month-long back and forth over identifying a joint presidential candidate, the Left parties had pressed for an early announcement of candidature in order to keep the opposition flock together. Senior leaders said that the opposition rift - in a last minute decision, the JDU decided to back NDA's presidential nominee Ram NathKovind - could have been avoided if all parties had agreed to announce their joint candidate before the government did.
Sections within the opposition did not rule out on the possibility of suggesting PrakashAmbedkar's name for vice president. A small section also said that former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, who was earlier among the top contenders for the opposition's presidential candidate, may also find mention on the list of names during Tuesday meeting.
Even as the opposition meets to decide over its joint candidate, the NDA has maintained the suspense over its choice of VP candidate. Sources said that while Manipur governor NajmaHeptullah is keen to contest a second time - she lost to incumbent vice president Hamid Ansari in 2007 - former Gujarat chief minister Anandi Ben Patel maybe in the reckoning for the job.
Ansari's term ends on August 10 and the vice presidential polls, if required, will be held on August 5. The Collegium that elects the Vice President comprises elected and nominated MPs from both houses of Parliament. It is stacked heavily in favour of the NDA nominee, who has nearly 550 of the 790 votes needed to win the VP polls.