Opposition meets today for presidential candidate, former LS speaker Meera kumar leading the race

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As the opposition heads into a meeting today to decide who it will field for President against the BJP's nominee, Ram Nath Kovind, the left has asserted that 16 of the 17 parties that had earlier pledged to field a joint candidate will attend.

 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United dropped out yesterday after announcing that it will back the BJP;s candidate.

Several other Opposition parties have said they will decide who to back only after assessing  the candidate picked at today's meeting, to be chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Mrs Gandhi is expected to reject at today's meeting the government's contention that it tried to build consensus among parties before announcing Mr Kovind's candidacy. Party leaders alleged that the Prime Minister "called us 15 minutes before he announcement".

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