Announcing the candidature of Kumar, whose father, ex-deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, was often hailed as one of the tallest Dalit leaders in the country, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said, "17 Opposition leaders have chose to jointly field Meira Kumar".
Paswan said that even the people of Bihar are angry with Nitish Kumar for being in contact with a corrupt party and invited him to join BJP-led coalition.
"Daughter of freedom fighter Jagjivan Ram, Meira Kumar is an experienced leader and has served in various capacities", Azad said.
President Nitish Kumar's outburst on Friday, where he countered the Opposition's move of fielding Meira Kumar as Presidential nominee against Ram Nath Kovind in a point-by-point rebuttal, has stunned the senior leadership of the Mahagathbandhan into silence. Kumar questioned, and reiterated that his party would support NDA candidate Kovind in the July 17 Presidential polls.
Another key opposition figure, BSP's Mayawati, has made a decision to back Meira Kumar in what should be a relief for the opposition camp as she had expressed that in the event the opposition does not come with a better Dalit candidate, she would go with the BJP's choice Kovind, a Dalit. It will be his first experience of voting in a presidential election.
"Nitish had said he would go along with the opposition candidate". He also said that his party has taken an independent decision like this in the past also. "We will not bring down the government", he said.
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"Nitish Kumar is absolutely correct about his comment about Meira Kumar who was ignored for the same post when Congress was in power for ten years".
The Opposition seems to have walked into BJP's plan to divide Dalits on the basis of subcastes in the Presidential elections by picking ex-Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate. Ram Nath Kovind's role as Bihar Governor has been admirable, he worked impartially.
BSPs Satish Chandra Misra said his party leader Mayawati had earlier said if there was a better dalit candidate (than Kovind), the person should be fielded by the opposition. So every party of Bihar should not think about anybody but support Meira Kumar.
Kumar, a dalit who was a Union Minister in the UPA government, said she was honoured to be the joint opposition candidate. Clearly now she is seeing backing Meira Kumar.
According to left sources, it was also surprising that the names they considered were "not even discussed and proposed" when the Opposition leaders met in Delhi yesterday to decide their joint candidate Ahead of the meeting, the left parties had made a decision to propose Gandhi, who is Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, and B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash. "Won't break alliance." He said the Opposition was fighting an ideological battle with the NDA and not the merits and demerits of a candidate.
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