Presidential election: Gopalkrishna Gandhi opts out, TMC may pitch Yashwant Sinha’s name

On Monday, former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi became the third proposed face, besides NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, to decline the request of the joint Opposition.

By quitting the race just a day before the second round of discussions, convened by Pawar at Parliament Annexe, Gandhi made the task all the more difficult for the leaders. “Having considered the matter deeply, I see that the Opposition’s candidate should be one who will generate a national consensus and a national atmosphere, besides Opposition unity. I feel there will be others who will do this far better than I. And, so, I have requested the leaders to give the opportunity to such a person,” Gandhi said in a written statement released to the media.

There were signs of a consensus developing around Gandhi’s name, with even parties such as AAP hinting that it might be acceptable to them due to his illustrious career straddling the world of diplomacy and academia.

“The idea was also to focus on the fact that he is the Mahatma’s grandson,” one Opposition leader involved in the talks said. “In 75th year of Independence, that would have sent out a powerful message, especially when the forces behind the murder of the Father of the Nation are more emboldened than ever before.”

Even in 2017, the Opposition camp wanted to field Gandhi, but the NDA’s decision to pick Ram Nath Kovind as its face had forced a rethink. Eventually former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, also a Dalit like Kovind, was fielded by the Opposition. Gandhi fought unsuccessfully for the post of Vice President.

While TMC sources are now pitching the name of former Union minister Yashwant Sinha (84), as an alternative, the possibility of any unanimity on the former BJP leader’s name appears thin.

Sinha had served as Finance minister and Eternal Affairs minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet. Initially seen as an L K Advani loyalist, Sinha fell out of the BJP patriarch’s good books in the later years. He remained in BJP till 2018 when he quit, alleging that the country’s democracy was facing a “threat” under the Narendra Modi government.

While Sinha’s political past may come in the way of any Opposition consensus around his name, the overall poll maths, which is heavily stacked against the Opposition, is also emerging as an obstacle, with leaders refusing to enter a race headed for a seemingly predictable end — the victory of NDA’s yet-to-be-declared candidate.

The NDA already has over 48 per cent of the vote share in the electoral college.