Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday thanked the leaders of opposition parties for suggesting his name for the upcoming Presidential elections, however, the Maratha strongman said he has declined the proposal.
Taking to Twitter after the meeting of opposition parties, Pawar wrote, "I sincerely appreciate the leaders of opposition parties for suggesting my name as a candidate for the election of the President of India, at the meeting held in Delhi. However I like to state that I have humbly declined the proposal of my candidature." "I am happy to continue my service for the well-being of the common man," he added.
A meeting of opposition parties was convened today by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee to build consensus on fielding a joint candidate against the NDA in the presidential election.
Leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP, DMK, RJD, Shiv Sena, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), National Conference, PDP, JD(S), RSP, IUML, RLD, JMM and the Left parties attended the meeting, while the AAP, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Odisha's ruling BJD skipped it.
Banerjee, who had met Pawar yesterday, proposed his name as soon as the meeting started, reported NDTV. However, he refused to run for President, saying "he still has active political innings to play", the report added.
Later, CPI leader Binoy Viswam said that Pawar refused to be the Opposition candidate due to his health. "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," he said.
Meanwhile, after Pawar's refusal, Banerjee proposed the names of Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah, NDTV reported.
The presidential elections will take place on July 18 and the results will be declared on July 21. June 29 is the last date for nominations.
