Opposition Picks Retired Judge as Presidential Choice in India

Indian opposition parties Sunday picked a retired Supreme Court judge, Krishna Iyer, to oppose Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s party in crucial presidential elections next month.

The Press Trust of India news agency said Iyer was chosen by a committee of politicians after President Zail Singh declined to seek a second term as an opposition candidate.

Iyer, 72, will oppose Singh’s deputy, Vice President R. Venkataraman, in a July 13 vote that is regarded as a major test of strength for Gandhi within his own Congress-I party.

The opposition failed earlier Sunday to forge a joint front to back Iyer when India’s main Communist party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, pulled out of the committee in protest against Iyer’s nomination, the news agency said.

Two Left to Decide

The Communist withdrawal left only the chiefs of the opposition Janata and Telugu Desam parties--Chandra Shekhar and N.T. Rama Rao--to decide on Iyer’s nomination.

But in a subsequent development, the Communists decided to back Iyer after learning that Singh would not run.

It made the decision after meeting leaders of India’s other main Communist grouping, the Communist Party of India.

Press Trust of India said that the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which allied itself with the Lok Dal (People’s Party) to crush Gandhi’s party in state elections in Haryana last week, has declined to support Iyer.

Indian newspapers said that several opposition leaders and dissidents in Gandhi’s party shocked by the humiliating defeat in the Haryana state elections are trying to persuade Singh to seek reelection as an opposition candidate in a bid to topple Gandhi.

A defeat for Venkataraman could lead to a revolt in the Congress-I party against Gandhi’s leadership, which has been under attack over a wide range of issues.

They include his failure to curb Sikh extremist violence in Punjab state and his inability to help Congress-I win elections in three states this year.

Relations between Gandhi and Singh have been strained in the past four months because of an exchange of letters over the powers they wield under the Indian constitution and Singh’s demand to be briefed on corruption charges leveled against Gandhi’s government.