Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar has appealed to MPs and MLAs for a vote of "conscience"

As part of their campaign for the presidential and vice presidential elections, opposition's candidates Meira Kumar and Gopalkrishna Gandhi would hold an interactive session with MPs of 18 non-NDA parties on Sunday.The first such joint outreach to be attended by all Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs of non-NDA political parties is being organised in the Parliament annexe tomorrow evening.The interactive session, the sources say, will see Ms Kumar, the opposition's presidential nominee, and Gandhi, its vice presidential candidate, make their presentations before them.They will also answer any queries by MPs and engage with them in the closed-door interactive session, not open to the media.While the election for the post of president will be held on July 17, that of the vice president, who is the chairman of Rajya Sabha, will be held on August 5.Though the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling dispensation, the opposition has made it a battle of ideologies.Ms Kumar has appealed to the MPs and MLAs for a vote of "conscience" and the "inner voice" in her favour. The opposition feels Gandhi is an ideal candidate as he is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, the last governor general of India.As many as 17 non-NDA parties including the Congress, the Left parties, the TMC, BSP, SP, DMK, NCP, RJD, JMM JD-S and NC are supporting Kumar, while the JD(U) is supporting the NDA's nominee Ram Nath Kovind.The JD(U) attended the meeting where Mr Gandhi was selected as the joint opposition vice presidential candidate. However, it is not clear whether its MPs will also attend tomorrow's meeting.

For detailed coverage on President elections, follow this link.