Telangana Rashtra Samithi's working president and Minister KT Rama Rao will be attending the nomination programme of the Opposition's presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha on Monday, June 27, TRS sources told PTI. KTR has already left for the national capital for the purpose, the sources said on Sunday.
Along with KTR, who is the son of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (also known as KCR), some TRS MPs are also expected to attend the programme. The sources said though KCR did not physically participate in the Opposition parties meet on deciding their common candidate for the presidential elections, Telangana's ruling party has decided to support Sinha's candidature.
Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi on Sunday that the opposition parties will have to make every effort to ensure victory of Yashwant Sinha, their common candidate, in the presidential election. Pawar said if one looked at the arithmetic for the presidential election, the situation was not as bad as it was made out to be, and the opposition parties will have to make concerted efforts to put up a good fight.
The NCP chief's remarks came even as opposition parties such as YSRCP and BSP had already declared support for Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA nominee in the July 18 election. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which was part of the opposition grouping that selected Sinha as their common candidate, was also veering towards Murmu, a tribal leader of Odisha from the Santhal community.
“When we contest an election, we contest to win. When there are two candidates, both cannot win. The situation is different for each candidate. This contest is about principles. We have selected Yashwant Sinha as our common candidate and it is our responsibility to make every effort to ensure his victory. Whatever be the result, we can talk about it later,” Pawar said. The NCP chief said it was the duty of the political parties to contest elections be it Lok Sabha or Assembly on the basis of the principles it believed in. We have entered the fray keeping this in mind, Pawar said.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and a host of opposition leaders are likely to be present in Parliament House on Monday when Sinha will submit his nomination papers for the presidential election.