NEW DELHI: A final picture of the Presidential contest is expected to emerge when the Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao will make up his mind on the selection of his party’s nominee for the post.

Rao who returned to the capital after his Rio trip has not begun any consultation with other opposition parties regarding the choice of the Presidential candidate. He will leave for Tokyo and will return only after the deadline for filing nomination for the presidential election.

Therefore the Prime Minister will have to conclude the strenuous consultations with other political parties. It is likely that he himself will be the main proposer of the party’s candidate as per tradition.

Contrary to the general atmosphere of consensus over the choice of Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharma when the Prime Minister left on June 10 for Rio the situation has now become complicated.

The first decision he has to make is whether to yield to the opposition demand for linking the choice of both President and vice-president. So far the Congress (I) has refused to make a package deal on both posts. A sudden post-by-election reversal of the BJPs attitude has further complicated the situation.

The party is not only insisting on linking both posts but has also demanded that the vice president ship should go to the Opposition as part of an overall Consensus.

The general consensus in the Congress (I) Working Committee which had discussed the issue has been that the party should hold both posts and should in no way compromise on this point. If Rao sticks to this view it will preclude any alliance with the MP. In that event the BJP is likely to put up its own nominee for both posts or support some common candidates sponsored by other. The BJP is awaiting the final word from the Prime Minister before working out its plans.

The Left has already decided to stand by its earlier assurance to the Prime Minister to support the candidature of Dr.Sharma provided a simultaneous decision is taken on the vice-presidential nominee who should also be acceptable to them. In this connection they had proposed the candidature of the Congress (I) MP K.R.Narayanan. In case the Prime Minister accepts this proposal the Left will support both Congress (I) candidates irrespective of decision by their ally National Front. Narayanan belongs to a scheduled caste and thus partly meets the criterion set by the SG/ ST Forum Janata Dal and a section of the Congress (I) men in this regard. However a section within the Congress (I) has suggested the names of some other SC/ST leader for the post of vice-president.

The Janata Dal is still undecided on the issue. Initially the suggestion by V.P.Singh and Ram Vila Paswan for putting up an SC/ST candidate for president-ship had faced strong opposition from within the party. However a meeting of the senior leaders recently decided to back Singhs proposal. But S.R.Kommai Janata Dal president is reported to have said that V.P.Singhs demand for an SC/ST candidate was his personal view and a decision would be taken soon

Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1992