NEW DELHI: The BJP has authorised its president J.P. Nadda and Union defence minister Rajnath Singh to hold consultations with various political parties, including those in the opposition camp, ahead of the upcoming presidential elections to reach a consensus on a candidate for the top constitutional post. So yet, neither the ruling BJP-led NDA nor the opposition have announced their presidential candidates.

According to a statement released by the BJP, the two BJP leaders would hold consultations with leaders of other parties soon in what is considered an outreach by the ruling party to establish an agreement on the pick for the top constitutional post. 

The next president will be elected on July 18, with 4,809 electors, including MPs and MLAs, voting to pick incumbent Ram Nath Kovind's successor.

The BJP is in a strong position to assure the success of the candidate it nominates in the next election, given its strength in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, andin several state legislatures. The BJP is also hoping for support from non-NDA and non-UPA parties like the YSRCP and BJD for its nominee. 

Rajnath Singh, who has a solid working relationship with politicians from all parties, was also a member of the BJP's three-person committee that deliberated with opposition parties during the 2017 presidential elections.

In 2017, then-BJP president Amit Shah formed a three-member team, which included Mr Singh, including the then-Senior Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu, to undertake negotiations with all political parties about the presidential election.

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