Candidate for Presidential polls should be committed to the Constitution: RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha

A day after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee held a meeting of Opposition parties on presidential polls, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha on Thursday said the candidate should have a clear understanding and commitment towards the Constitution of India. A meeting of Opposition leaders called by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential poll was held in the national capital yesterday.

The meeting adopted a resolution to field a common candidate in the election slated for July 18. Speaking to ANI, RJD MP said, "Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has not contacted any of the RJD leaders regarding presidential polls yet. The leaders who interacted with Rajnath Singh said that he did not have any concrete proposal. I think there should be a resolution for such a position."

"The candidate for presidential elections should have a proper understanding of the Indian Constitution. He should be committed to constitutional values. The right candidate should be chosen by every Indian citizen," he added. Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also informed that a coordination committee will be constituted to find a suitable candidate for the post of the President of India.

During the meeting, leaders of several opposition parties urged Sharad Pawar to be the joint candidate but the senior NCP leader declined the offer Congress participated in the meeting along with 16 other political parties. Apart from TMC, Congress and NCP, the parties which attended the meeting included CPI, CPI(M), CPIML, RSP, Shiv Sena, RJD, SP, National Conference, PDP, JD(S), DMK, RLD, IUML and JMM participated in the meeting held at the Constitution Club of India here. The polling for the presidential election is slated for July 18 and votes will be counted on July 21.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party did not participate in the meeting which was held at the Constitution Club. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not send a representative to the meeting. (ANI)

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