The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached out to its coalition partners and key Opposition leaders to seek their support for the NDA’s presidential candidate. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and party president JP Nadda dialled the leaders of dozen parties to build a consensus ahead of the July 18 election.<br />” <br />” BJP has authorised its president J P Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold consultations with different political parties.<br />” <br />” AIR correspondent quoting sources reports, Mr Singh spoke to Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Biju Janata Dal chief and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren, and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.<br />” <br />” Mr Singh also spoke to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United) is an ally of the BJP.<br />” <br />” BJP Chief Mr Nadda spoke to Meghalaya chief minister and National People’s Party chief Conrad Sangma, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and leaders of the All Jharkhand Student Union.<br />” <br />” Also several Opposition parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the Samajwadi Party, met in Delhi to deliberate on the choice of a nominee. At the meeting, a resolution was passed to name a consensus candidate for the presidential election.<br />” <br />” Formal notification for the poll was issued yesterday and nominations have to be filed by June 29. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is July 2. President Kovind’s term ends on July 24&nbsp;