Who among these two dozen names will be chosen for the next president of India.

Or may be, none.

New Delhi can talk about nothing else but the presidential elections which are scheduled for July 17. The results will be declared on the 20th. The filing of nomination for the election begins on June 14 and continues till June 28.

The names, of which there are over two dozen, begin with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (suggested by the BJP's ally Shiv Sena) and continue on to former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson and former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh. Other names include JDU leader Sharad Yadav, SAD's Parkash Singh Badal, current Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik.

Names outside politics include, economist Dr Amartya Sen, former chairman of the Tata group, Ratan Tata, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, Metro man E Sreedharan etc.

These names will be assessed and one name chosen, or so the Opposition believes.   

However, government sources speculate that BJP president Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi have already decided on a name, which is being kept top secret.

They want the Opposition and the BJP's three-member committee (Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh) to arrive at a name, but the real name will be revealed after a BJP Parliamentary Board meeting.

The Opposition's consensus candidate may be announced on Wednesday when the Leaders of Opposition meet at Sonia Gandhi's residence, the second meeting to decide a name.

This morning, BJP president Amit Shah drove down to Venkaiah Naidu's home for an Andhra breakfast of Pesarattu dosa. BJP circles are agog with speculation that the reason for the meeting is to soften up Naidu, who has been peeved after he was chosen by Shah to be part of the three-member committee to decide the next president.

This means Naidu is out of the running as he certainly cannot choose himself as a candidate.

The union minister has long been considered as a Presidential or vice-presidential candidate and sources say Naidu is disappointed at being out of the race.

It would be safe to say that the Amit Shah constituted committee would not have happened without the PM's nod. Tellingly, both Rajnath and Naidu have been past president's of the BJP. Party leaders speculate that Amit Shah will soon meet Rajnath and Jaitley.

Watch this space.


Also read:Who will Modi pick for President?