Prez poll: Yashwant Sinha joint opp nominee; TMC happy to be in centre stage

Soon after, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the 85-year-old leader.She tweeted I would like to congratulate Shri YashwantSinha on becoming the consensus candidate, supported by all progressive opposition parties, for the upcoming Presidential Election.

After major non-BJP parties selected former union minister Yashwant Sinha as their candidate for the upcoming presidential election, the Trinamool Congress leadership is elated as the development has helped the party emerge as the nucleus of the opposition front.

The party, which was formed in 1998, has another reason to celebrate as this is the first time that a member of it has been nominated as one of the candidates for the presidential poll to be held on July 18. Leaders of 13 non-BJP parties, who gathered in New Delhi for a meeting convened by NCP chief Sharad Pawar to decide on a consensus candidate for the presidential election, agreed on Sinha's name. Soon after, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the 85-year-old leader.

She tweeted: ''I would like to congratulate Shri @YashwantSinha on becoming the consensus candidate, supported by all progressive opposition parties, for the upcoming Presidential Election. A man of great honour and acumen, who would surely uphold the values that represent our great nation!'' Sinha, a former BJP leader, joined the TMC last year ahead of the assembly polls and was made a national vice-president of the party. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who attended the opposition meeting, also congratulated Sinha. ''Yashwant Sinha Ji's nomination as the joint opposition candidate is a matter of great pride for all of us. This has helped us in emerging as a glue of the opposition camp. It is our proposal that was endorsed by others. This is a step forward, and it has given birth to new hopes in the opposition camp," a senior TMC leader said.

Before Tuesday's meeting of opposition parties, Mamata Banerjee on June 15 convened a similar meeting in New Delhi to decide on a common candidate for the presidential election. The presence of representatives of 17 out of the 22 major opposition parties invited at that meeting brought back the focus on her national ambitions which seemed thwarted by her party's dismal electoral performance in Goa and Tripura a few months ago.

Now, the unanimous selection of Sinha, who was associated with the TMC, has boosted the energy of the party leadership.

"Besides, this is for the first time that a member of our party has been nominated as one of the candidates for the presidential poll,'' the TMC leader said.

The presidential election is conducted indirectly through an electoral college consisting of elected members of Parliament and legislative assemblies of states and Union territories. In an electoral college of around 10.86 lakh votes, the BJP-led alliance is estimated to have more than 48 per cent of the votes and is hopeful that non-aligned regional parties will support it.

''The numbers may not be in our favour, but in politics, nothing is impossible. And more than a victory, it is about sending out a message that the opposition camp has put up a united fight,'' the TMC leader said.

Earlier in the day, Sinha said that he will ''step aside'' from the TMC to work for the larger national cause of Opposition unity, amid indications that he is being considered as the Opposition's joint candidate for the presidential elections.

According to party sources, he submitted his resignation to the party in the evening. Sinha's name came up after NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah opted out of the race. The parties that attended Tuesday's meeting included the Congress, NCP, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, Samajwadi Party, National Conference, AIMIM, RJD and AIUDF.

The Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury and CPI's D Raja were among those who participated in the meeting. Five regional parties are considered non-aligned - TRS, BJD. AAP, SAD and YSRCP -- stayed away. These parties had also stayed away from the June 15 meeting convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)