Neighbours of Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind in Kanpur on Monday loudly celebrated his being named as the NDA's candidate for President of India.
Shah further said that the saffron party hoped that the Dalit nominee, Kovind, would remain unchallenged as the choice and would be unanimously selected as the President of India.
When asked why the names of Sushma Swaraj or Sumitra Mahajan were not considered, party leaders remain mum but refuse to acknowledge that Kovind's Dalit credentials are the only reason why he was chosen.
Terming the BJP's efforts to reach out to the opposition through its senior leaders as a "formality and a PR exercise", Azad said the ruling party should have built consensus before announcing the candidate.
BJP President Amit Shah had formed a panel comprising senior cabinet ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu to consult with allies and opposition parties for the presidential candidate.
However, he said a final decision on the BJP candidate would be taken at a meeting of party leaders here scheduled for Tuesday.
Billionaire Moshiri to spearhead Everton’s Italian job
Indeed, it is only by virtue of Falcinelli’s prowess in the final third that Crotone still remains in contention to survive. In Romelu Lukaku, Koeman has a player with the capability of firing Everton to far headier heights than seventh place.
Also, that the NDA nominee could dent the Opposition bloc's unity was evident with JD (U) president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar expressing his "personal happiness" over the NDA nominee, but he didn't commit his party's support to his candidature.
"Shah informed him (Thackeray) about the BJP choice and also sought the Shiv Sena's support for Kovind's candidature", Raut said. "With his illustrious legal background in the legal area, Kovind's knowledge and understanding of the Constitution will benefit the nation", the PM said. "The office of President is a key post". "The name was announced at the BJP press conference".
The BJP made the "unilateral" move probably to revive its image post the alleged attacks on Dalits in the recent past ahead of the next general elections polls and picked a candidate from the politically most crucial state, Uttar Pradesh, the sources observed.
So what does Mr Kovind has going for him?
But, if sources are to be believed, several other factors like Kovind's not-so-strong RSS links and the Gujarat polls also played a pivotal role in his selection.
Comments