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Dr Veerendra Heggade consensus Presidential candidate?

Prime News, National, June 13:- Padma Vibhushan Dr Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala is reportedly in the Presidential race.

The current incumbent President Pranab Mukharjee’s term comes to an end on July 24.

According to reliable sources, Padma Vibhushan Dr Veerendra Heggade would be the choice for President by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a distinguished personality deeply involved in social service, spiritual activities and also an able administrator. The question is, will he accept the invite to become the President of India remains to be seen, as he has reiterated that the service to Lord Manjunath is paramount to him.

M R Venkatesh, a person closely associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the probability, during Atal Bihari Vajapayee’s NDA regime by choosing a minority community candidate Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to the nation. Likewise Prime Minister Modi has zeroed in on Dr Veerendra Heggade and trying to project a consensus candidate so as to avoid an election.

Interestingly, in a year’s time Karnataka is going for the Assembly polls and it is considered as masterstroke by the BJP that a Jain community leader who commands great rapport with all the political parties has been chosen as the Presidential candidate. If he accepts the invite from BJP, the political equations in Karnataka will gradually sway the way for BJP. Dr Heggade has been appointed as an ambassador for Swachh Bharat campaign and he is also a member of International Yoga Committee to choose the winners.

Dr Heggade who does not have a political affiliation may catapult him to the highest position in the country and also his Rural Development and Self Employment Training (RUDSET) Institute got an appreciation from Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and wants to replicate in his home constituency Amethi to make his task easier, as the Congress also won’t oppose his candidature. In all probability Dr Heggade is likely to be a consensus candidate.

Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav, Meera Kumari some of names the Opposition are considering, but Pawar has made it clear that he won’t be contesting. On June 14, the Opposition parties will meet to formalise the names for President and Vice President. Meanwhile, Vice President Hamid Ansari’s name is doing the rounds in Congress for the Presidential post.

Initially BJP wanted to project Lal Krishna Advani as their candidate, but Babri Masjid demolition case ruling by the CBI court has curtailed his chances.

BJP national president Amit shah constituted a three-member committee comprising Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh to select the NDAs candidate. The race to Raisina Hills hots up, as it is believed in political circles that PM Modi doesn’t want a President who looks taller than him.