TRS, AAP likely to skip TMC's Presidential poll meet today: Latest developments

NEW DELHI: At least 17 parties attended the opposition meeting convened by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to deliberate on consensus presidential candidate.
The election of the President of India will be held on July 18.
Here are the latest developments:
Candidate cannot be elected without Congress: Kharge
Ahead of the opposition parties' meeting called by TMC supremo and West Bengal chief miniter Mamata Banerjee, leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections cannot be elected without the Congress.
"Electing a candidate (for the upcoming Presidential elections) can't happen without Congress as we have nearly 50 per cent votes. But, we will still go to the meeting to fight together ... as we don't want to break the unity. We want to fight against BJP," Kharge said.
"Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and many big leaders aren't participating. We want unity and a unanimous (Presidential) candidate," he added.
Owaisi 'not invited' to Mamata's meeting
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said he was not invited to the meeting called by TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the Presidential polls.
Speaking to ANI over the phone, Owaisi said, "I was not invited. Even if I were invited, I would not have participated. The reason is Congress. The TMC party which speaks ill about us, even if they had invited us, we would not have gone just because they invited the Congress."
Mamata-Pawar meeting in Delhi
Mamata Banerjee met Sharad Pawar at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday ahead of the opposition leaders' meeting to discuss Presidential polls.

During Tuesday's meeting, the TMC supremo tried to convince the veteran leader to be the joint opposition nominee for the presidential election.
Pawar has been one of the senior-most politicians of the country. He has been the fulcrum of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government since it was formed two-and-a-half years ago.
Pawar refused to be opposition parties' nominee
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has refused to be the opposition parties' nominee for the presidential election, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday.
Pawar met Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, and NCP leaders Praful Patel and PC Chacko in Delhi and conveyed to them his decision to not contest the election.
"I have been informed that Pawar will not be the opposition face for the presidential polls, other names are under consideration," Yechury said on Tuesday.
Opposition sources said Pawar was not keen to enter a battle which he is destined to lose at this point in his political career.
Who were invited?
The TMC supremo on Saturday invited leaders of 19 political parties including eight non-Congress opposition chief ministers such as K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS), Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Naveen Patnaik (BJD), Pinarayi Vijayan (CPM), Hemant Soren (JMM), MK Stalin (DMK) and Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-led MVA) to join the meeting convened by her discussing the strategy for the upcoming presidential election in the national capital.
However, according to sources, the TRS is not likely to send a representative to Mamata's meeting amid moves to forge consensus for an opposition-backed candidate.
TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, who had bonded with Mamata Banerjee over their common goal of defeating the BJP, opted out of the opposition meeting raising strong objections to the Congress being invited.
Aam Aadmi Party has decided to skip the meeting, sources said today. "AAP will not participate in the meeting today regarding the Presidential elections. The party will consider the matter only after the Presidential candidate is declared," sources said on Wednesday.
-With inputs from agencies