Presidential election: Nitish to skip Sonia's luncheon meet

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will skip the opposition parties meeting convened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday over the Presidential elections, a party leader said.

"Nitish Kumarji would not be attending the meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhiji," Rajya Sabha MP and Janata Dal-United Spokesperson K.C. Tyagi told IANS.

"Our senior party leader Sharad Yadav would attend the meet to represent JD-U," he added.

Sonia Gandhi has invited prominent opposition leaders for a luncheon meet at her residence, where the issue of selecting a consensus candidate for the presidential election is to be discussed.

Asked about the reason for the JD-U President not attending the meet, Tyagi said, "He is busy with some important work of the government and won't be able to come."

Nitish Kumar was first among the opposition leaders who had met the Congress President over the issue of fielding a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Kumar has been calling for forging an alliance of secular parties at the national level on the lines of the 2015 electoral grand alliance in Bihar to take on the BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress is exploring the possibility of fielding a joint candidate for the presidential election which is due in July this year.