The Bharatiya Janata Party has tasked party president JP Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to reach out to allies as well as the Opposition party to zero in on a consensus candidate for the July 18 presidential elections.
According to a BJP press release from New Delhi, “JP Nadda and Rajnath Singh have been given the responsibility of agreeing on the candidate of the President from independent MPs along with NDA, UPA and non-UPA parties.”
The nomination dates for the presidential election are from June 15 to June 29, while the polling will be held on July 18. The votes will be counted on July 21.
The President of India is elected by the members of an electoral college comprising elected members of both the Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and the union territories.
The nominated members of either Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha or legislative assemblies of the states and members of the legislative councils are not part of the electoral college and hence do not participate in the presidential polls.
President Ram Nath Kovind, who was elected in 2017, will remain in office until July 24, 2022.
