At least 17 parties participate at Mamata’s opposition meeting for Presidential elections

New Delhi: At least 17 parties attended the opposition meeting called by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the upcoming presidential polls. They are searching for a suitable candidate from the opposition. Presidential polls will take place on July 18.

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Here are the latest developments:

Leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP, DMK, RJD, and the Left parties were present in the meeting called by the Trinamool Congress supremo. Shiv Sena, CPI, CPM, CPI (ML), National Conference, PDP, JD (S), RSP, IUML, RLD, and JMM leaders were also present.

Among the notable leaders who attended the meeting were Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel of the NCP, Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Surjewala of the Congress, H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), Akhilesh Yadav of the SP, Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP, and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference.

Who skipped?

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The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Aam Aadmi Party, TRS, and the BJD did not take part in the meeting held at the Constitution Club in the national capital.

Mamata Banerjee last week sent letters to 19 political parties, including seven chief ministers, to attend a meeting in the national capital to produce a “confluence of opposition voices” for the presidential election on July 18.

Candidate cannot be elected without Congress: Kharge

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections can not be elected without the Congress.

“Electing a candidate (for the upcoming Presidential elections) can’t happen without Congress as we have nearly 50 percent of the 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 the BJP, “Kharge said.”

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“Among the notable absentees were Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and many other prominent leaders.”Owaisi wasn’t invited.

Opposition sources said Pawar wants to remain in active politics, so he doesn’t want to be a candidate for opposition.