BJP may announce presidential candidate on June 23

New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party may announce the NDA presidential candidate on June 23, who is likely to file his nomination a day after, informed sources said.

BJP sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to complete the process of filing of nomination by the National Democratic Alliance candidate before he leaves for the US tour on June 25.

Modi is all set to hold his first-ever meeting with US President Donald Trump on June 26.

In a bid to evolve a consensus on its nominee, a three-member committee set up by BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday approached the Nationalist Congress Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

The panel is also set to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday.

The process to elect India's 14th President began on Wednesday with the Election Commission issuing a notification for the July 17 contest.

Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra, the Returning Officer for the election, issued the notification that nomination papers may be delivered by a candidate or any of their proposers/seconders not later than June 28.

Voting will take place on July 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at places fixed under the rules.

The vote count will be on July 20, four days before incumbent Pranab Mukherjee's term ends on July 24. The new President is set to assume office on the following day.