Presidential polls: Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha to file nomination on June 27

Opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha will file his nomination on June 27 at 11:30 am, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday. Former union minister Sinha has been chosen as the consensus candidate from the Joint Opposition for the upcoming Presidential elections which will take place on July 18, 2022.

"We are going to file the nomination for the Presidential elections on 27th June at 11.30 am," said Pawar at the Opposition meeting. Meanwhile, BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu is likely to her nomination on June 25, said sources on Tuesday.

The late date for filing nominations for the Presidential election is June 29, the polling will take place on July 18 and the votes will be counted on July 21. Expressing his gratitude to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Sinha said, now a time has come when for a larger national cause to step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity.

"I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step," he tweeted. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said that they are honoured that Yashwant Sinha has been nominated by the unified opposition.

"We are honoured that Yashwant Sinha has been nominated by the unified opposition, he was associated with TMC for a long time. We need to keep our differences aside. We have to find someone who will act as the custodian of the Indian Constitution," said Abhishek Banerjee. In his long and distinguished career in public life, Sinha has served the nation in various capacities as an able administrator, accomplished parliamentarian and acclaimed Union Minister of Finance and External Affairs. He is eminently qualified to uphold the secular and democratic character of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional values, said the press release.