Presidential Elections 2017: BJP forms three-member panel to consult parties

New Delhi: Ahead of the Presidential Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday formed a three-member panel to hold consultations with political parties -- including the opposition -- over a possible consensus candidate.

BJP chief Amit Shah told a press conference that Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu are tasked with the responsibility.

"The committee's mandate is to consult leaders of all political parties for the presidential poll and try to evolve a consensus," a BJP statement said.

The last date for filing nominations for the poll is June 28.

The Presidential Election will be held on July 17. President Pranab Mukherjee`s term ends on July 24. 

The BJP has so far not given any indication about its likely nominee but opposition parties including the Congress have held parleys to find a consensus candidate.

The opposition has made it clear they would await the choice of the ruling side before announcing its strategy. 

The opposition parties want that the candidate should be one who should be able to protect the Constitution, implying the choice should be a secular person.

The opposition has also said that if a consensual candidate does not emerge, they will field a candidate "who will steadfastly defend the constitutional values". 

Opposition parties will meet on June 14 to formally begin discussions on the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has initiated moves to bring the opposition parties on a common platform for the election.

Gandhi earlier this month constituted a 10-member sub-group of representatives from opposition parties to take forward the deliberations and discussions on the election. 

"Members of the sub-group will meet on Wednesday to formally begin their discussion on Presidential and Vice Presidential elections," a senior opposition leader said.

The sub-group consists of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Lalu Prasad (RJD), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Derek O`Brien (TMC), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP), R.S. Bharathi (DMK) and Praful Patel (NCP).

(With Agency inputs)