Hyderabad, June 10: After skipping the crucial NDA meeting in New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu today maintained his stand for evolving a consensus on the presidential candidate while parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan said "there would be consensus not only with the TDP but also with opposition parties". The efforts to evolve a consensus for the presidential candidate are on and the Prime Minister is in touch with all the NDA partners, the two leaders told newsmen at an informal chat after a book release function here. Refuting the reports that he favoured the candidature of a particular leader, Naidu said "I did not suggest any name to the Prime Minister at any time though we discussed the issue on four or five occasions with some names coming up. I left the final decision to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.” Mahajan said that the Opposition had named some leaders as possible candidates but NDA never came out with any name so far.
"After we arrive at a consensus among NDA and TDP, we will also take the Opposition into confidence before finalising the name as it would be proper to have a single candidate,” Mahajan said while Naidu affirmed that he would be going to New Delhi whenever the Prime Minister wanted him there.
Bureau Report