Nadda, Shah meet Venkaiah Naidu ahead of deliberation on Presidential candidate

Ahead of the party’s Parliamentary meeting to deliberate over their Presidential candidate on Tuesday evening, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders went into a huddle earlier in the day. Party president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah were seen meeting Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu at his residence to hold talks over the matter.

Prior to the meeting at Naidu’s house, Nadda and Shah met at the Home Minister's house to hold discussions. It remains to be seen if the Vice-President will emerge as the NDA’s presidential candidate. Naidu, a senior leader well-versed with the party’s functioning, has a significant appeal in the South.

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The BJP’s Parliamentary party is meeting in the evening to deliberate over the issue, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to join the meeting virtually.

A day earlier, BJP president Nadda also held meetings with the party’s 14-member management team to flesh out the party’s strategy for the presidential polls, which will be held on July 18.

The party has entrusted Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold talks with other parties, including the Opposition as well as non-NDA and non-UPA, to build a consensus.

The NDA is well-poised to win the elections, with BJP holding 49 per cent of the votes in the electoral college.