Earlier this week, Samajawadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had also assured visiting BJP ministers that his party will back NDA's candidate. He has always been associated with the poor, backwards and Dalits... Uddhav Thackeray said that if someone is trying to make a Dalit a President with the goal of gaining a vote bank then the party will not support such a decision. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said that the party is "positive on his name because he is a Dalit, but only if the Opposition does not announce a more popular Dalit name". "Opposition will meet on June 22, then only we can announce our decision", she added.
The candidature of 71-year-old Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, was made after Prime Minister Modi met today morning with BJP Chief Amit Shah and other senior party leaders. "I am sure Shri Ram Nath Kovind will make an exceptional President & continue to be a strong voice for the poor, downtrodden and marginalised".
The decision was announced after the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting that took place in Delhi. With a Koli as the President, the BJP aims to shrink the Patidar vote base.
"During the meeting the senior leaders of the BJP had said that they will inform us before any announcement for a consensus, but they informed us after taking the decision. We hope that he would be the unanimous candidate for the election".
Born on October 1, 1945 in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh, Kovind is a lawyer who practised at both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court for 16 years. "I have told them about my views". Our Prime Minister had called Telangana Chief Minister KCR and told him that they have fielded a Dalit person to be the President of India. However, there were also those in the opposition who kept their options open.
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Asked if the opposition will field a candidate against him, Kovind said: "I think I will have the support and blessings of every citizen of India".
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, another key component of the opposition, said the Governor's credentials are also impressive.
Other smaller parties like the AGP, NPP and Apna Dal have also offered support.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders say Kovind is well-read and has done well as chief of the BJP's SC/ST cell. CPI national secretary D Raja said Union ministers Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu, who were part of the BJP's three-member panel formed to hold discussions and build a consensus on a presidential candidate, had not propose any name. The total strength of the electoral college is 10,98,903. "Ramnath has risen through the political ranks, waging a long and hard struggle as a Dalit", said Shah.
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