Bihar the overall gainer: Opp nominates Meira Kumar as its presidential candidate

New Delhi: Countering the presidential nominee of BJP-led NDA Ram Nath Kovind, the Opposition selected former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar to contest the poll, on Thursday, thus giving it a Dalit vs Dalit twist.

Both the presidential candidates have Bihar connections. While Kumar, daughter of former deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram,  hails from Rohtas district of Bihar, Kovind served as the Governor of Bihar before being named as NDA’s candidate.

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Announcing the name of Kumar, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “The name of Meira Kumar has been selected unanimously by seventeen political parties for the presidential poll.”

The meeting of the opposition parties had representatives from CPI(M), Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, RJD along with the Congress vice president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh.

The NDA has proposed the name of Bihar Governor Kovind who later resigned after the announcement.

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The presence of RJD chief Lalu Prasad at the meeting seemed to be significant, as his ally party of Bihar government, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) extended their support to the NDA nominated candidate.

Nitish skipped the Opposition meet on Thursday.

Both candidates of the NDA and the Opposition are Dalits, which had raised the topic of playing caste card in the political field.

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While Kovind comes from Uttar Pradesh, Kumar is of Bihar origin.

Pranab Mukherjee’s term as the president will expire in the month of July.

–India Blooms News Service