Shah defers Arunachal Pradesh tour in view of Prez polls

The BJP president was to leave for the northeastern state on Monday.

New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah has postponed his visit to Arunachal Pradesh and the party is likely to defer its national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in view of the presidential election.

Shah's presence in the capital is required as the BJP is likely to begin the process of finalising the name of its presidential nominee any time now, a party leader said.

The BJP president was to leave for the northeastern state tomorrow.

The election to the top constitutional post will be held on July 17. The last date for filing nomination is June 28.

There could be a meeting of senior party leaders here, he said, giving the reason for postponing Shah's Arunachal Pradesh trip.

If the opposition too puts up a candidate, which is very likely considering the ongoing talks among top leaders of the Congress, the Left, JD(U), among others, a contest will be inevitable.

The BJP leader said there was no point in keeping the national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in Andhra Pradesh, as the presidential election is scheduled for July 17.

He noted that the executive meeting was fixed long before the Election Commission announced the presidential poll schedule.

The Election Commission had on June 7 announced the schedule for the presidential poll.

The nomination process will begin from June 14 with the issuance of a notification and the counting of votes will take place on July 20 in New Delhi.

The electorate, comprising elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and members of state assemblies, is tilted in favour of the NDA, but the opposition is trying to woo some regional parties to support their candidate.