New Delhi, July 12: Determined to field a joint opposition candidate for the vice presidential elections, the left parties today met here to chalk out a strategy for consultations with other parties. Despite being isolated by the rest of the opposition on the choice for the presidential candidate, the Left parties formally decided to make efforts to put up a joint opposition candidate for the vice president's post. The meeting was attended by Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), A B Bardhan (CPI), Abani Roy (RSP) and Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc), Left sources said.
The Left is hopeful that all anti-BJP parties will agree to field a joint candidate to fight the NDA nominee.
In the case of the presidential elections, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party decided to support NDA candidate A P J Abdul Kalam leaving the Left parties to field its own candidate for a "symbolic" fight.
The issue of vice presidential elections was also discussed during the party's two-day polit bureau meeting last weekend.
Bureau Report