Sharad Pawar knew he will be defeated: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale as NCP chief refuses to contest Presidential poll

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said that Sharad Pawar is aware of his defeat in the presidential polls, that`s why he refused to contest the elections.He also opined that the President of India should be elected with consensus."It is not good to discuss Sharad Pawar`s name despite his decision not to contest presidential elections. Sharad Pawar is a big leader. He (Sharad Pawar) himself knows that he will be defeated in these polls. So, it is not right for opposition parties to discuss his name," Athawale told ANI.

He further appealed to the opposition parties to think about the consensus in nominating the right candidate for the post of President of India. A meeting of Opposition leaders called by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential poll was held in the national capital yesterday. The meeting adopted a resolution to field a common candidate in the election slated for July 18.

During the meeting, leaders of several opposition parties urged Sharad Pawar to be the joint candidate but the senior NCP leader declined the offer. Congress participated in the meeting along with 16 other political parties. Apart from TMC, Congress and NCP, the parties which attended the meeting included CPI, CPI(M), CPIML, RSP, Shiv Sena, RJD, SP, National Conference, PDP, JD(S), DMK, RLD, IUML and JMM participated in the meeting held at the Constitution Club of India here. The polling for the presidential election is slated for July 18 and votes will be counted on July 21. Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party did not participate in the meeting which was held at the Constitution Club. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not send a representative to the meeting.