Except Kovind, Meira, all presidential nominations rejected
Politics | June 29, 2017 17:15 ISTThe polling will take place on July 17. The result will be declared on July 20. The term of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee expires on July 24.
The polling will take place on July 17. The result will be declared on July 20. The term of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee expires on July 24.
Nominations of NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind and that of Opposition candidate Meira Kumar were found valid after scrutiny of nominations on Thursday.
National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Chandigarh on Thursday to seek support from Haryana and Punjab legislators.
Meira Kumar said that the presidential election should not be fought on the basis of caste and vowed to contest the polls on the plank of democratic values, inclusiveness and social justice.
Though Kovind would be meeting only with the MPs and MLAs who have pledged their loyalty with him, the NDA's presidential pick would appeal to all the members of the electoral college to support his candidature.
Panneerselvam also ruled out the possibility of the AIADMK factions merging, saying the seven-member panel constituted by his faction to hold merger talks had been dissolved.
On the NDA picking Ram Nath Kovind as its nominee for the top post, Naidu said commitment to the Constitution is the sole criterion for a presidential candidate along with character, calibre and conduct.
The opposition parties led by the Congress has fielded former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, also a Dalit, against Kovind.
The RJD chief had on June 22 said that its ally the JD(U)'s call to support NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind was "a wrong decision", adding he would appeal to Nitish Kumar not to commit "a historic blunder".
Though Uttar Pradesh has given the nation a number of Prime Ministers, it will be for the first time that the politically-crucial state will have the pride of sending someone to Rashtrapati Bhavan if Kovind is elected.
Swaraj claimed that Meira had interrupted her 60 times in a six-minute long speech on the floor of the Lok Sabha when she was speaking as the Leader of Opposition.
Yesterday, Nitish not only ruled out any change in his stand but also attacked the Congress for propping up 'Bihar ki beti' Meira Kumar as the opposition's candidate for a "lost cause".
Kumar, the joint opposition candidate announced by 17 non-NDA parties yesterday, is likely to file her nomination papers on June 27 or 28, which is the last date for submitting signatures of the endorsers and other documents.
Officially, Sena has stated there was no specific reason behind not attending the event.
Nitish said that the decision to support Kovind’s candidature was conveyed to Lalu and Congress president Sonia Gandhi well in advance’.
Calling opposition nominee Meira Kumar as ‘Bihar ki Beti’ (daughter of Bihar), Lalu said that his stand would have been the same – to oppose Ram Nath Kovind – even if the Congress would have decided to support him.
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