Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah regular names: Shiv Sena throws a spanner

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, June 17

Throwing a spanner in Opposition parleys regarding a candidate for the July 18 presidential election, the Shiv Sena on Friday said the contest for the highest constitutional office in the country must be taken seriously and that the names currently under discussion were “regular and lacked heft. “

The reference was to Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah whom TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, at the June 15 meeting, proposed as probable candidates after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar declined to run for the office.

In an editorial in mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, Sena said if the Opposition was unable to field a strong presidential candidate, people would wonder how it would find a capable PM candidate in 2024. Sena’s remarks are unsurprising, given its public calls for Bharat Ratna to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, known for links to Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Farooq’s candidature has come under question from Kashmiri Hindus, whom the Sena has always vociferously defended.

This is the first time that Sena is having to back a consensus Opposition candidate for the post. In the last presidential election of 2017, it was part of the BJP-led NDA. The Opposition hopes to finalise a joint candidate by June 21. Some headway is likely after Pawar arrives in New Delhi on Saturday evening for further parleys on the issue.

Prez poll: Electors to use pen with violet ink

The Election Commission has directed the returning officer and assistant returning officers to provide voters a “specially designed pen” with violet ink to mark their ballot papers in the presidential poll. Officials said the move aimed at ensuring secrecy and fairness in the polls. They further said instructions had been issued to the returning officer, who is Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody, and assistant returning officers in states. TNS