Presidential polls: Opposition picks ex-finance minister Yashwant Sinha as its candidate

New Delhi: Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha has been named the Opposition candidate for the Presidential polls to be held on 18 July.

Congress leader and party communication chief Jairam Ramesh, in a joint statement, said, "In the forthcoming Presidential elections, we have decided to elect a common candidate and stop the Modi government from doing further damage. At a subsequent meeting held today we have chosen Yashwant Sinha as a common candidate. We appeal to all political parties to vote for Yashwant Sinha."

In the joint statement, the Opposition appealed to the BJP and its allies to support Mr. Sinha so that the nation can have a "worthy Rashtrapati elected unopposed."

"We are going to file the nomination for the Presidential elections on 27 June at 11.30 a.m," NCP chief Sharad Pawar said.

Thirteen Opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, CPI, Samajwadi Party, and NCP, met at the Parliament building for the meeting conveyed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar to decide on the consensus candidate.

They all agreed on Yashwant Sinha after Sharad Pawar, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, and Farooq Abdullah opted out.

Opposition parties had insisted that Yashwant Sinha resign from TMC to be a more acceptable face. On 21 June, he resigned from the party and in the afternoon the decision was taken by the Opposition.

In a tweet, Mr. Sinha said, "I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity."

Five regional parties did not attend the meeting – TRS, BJD, AAP, SAD and YSRCP.

The Bhartiya Janta Party is yet to declare its Presidential candidate.

Mr. Sinha was the finance minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in 1998. He quit the BJP in 2018. In March 2021, he joined the All-India Trinamool Congress.