Kovind gets more support but Oppn gears up for a fight
PRESIDENTIAL POLL Congress, Left not inclined towards ‘hardcore BJP leader’, SP, BSP and Shiv Sena on board
The ruling NDA’s presidential candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, looked headed for a comfortable victory on Tuesday with divisions widening in the opposition camp even as it braced for a contest for the July 17 polls.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad indicated on Tuesday the grand old party was not inclined to support a “hardcore BJP leader” as the presidential candidate and would continue to work on building a consensus on an opposition nominee.
The Left parties including the CPI(M) and the CPI share the Congress’ stance, but more chinks surfaced in the opposition camp.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav joined Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and BSP supremo Mayawati in endorsing Kovind’s candidature.
“The BJP has given a good candidate. I have a very old relation with him,” the SP patriarch told ANI.
While the victory of the NDA nominee seems to be almost certain, the presidential election has become a test case for the opposition’s unity, the centrifugal idea behind efforts to field an opposition candidate. If opposition parties end up splintered, it would be a setback to the idea of non-BJP alliance referred to as mahagathbandhan, a term that gained currency after a successful experiment in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections.
Kovind, who resigned as Bihar Governor on Tuesday, is likely to file his nomination papers on June 23, before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for abroad.
Kovind will later go on a countrywide tour to seek support from members of Parliament and state legislatures who form the electoral college that votes in the presidential polls. He was given NSG cover on Tuesday.
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Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday the government will not defer the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax that is set for July 1, rejecting concerns that businesses were not ready for the switch-over.
“We have, for the last six months, been saying that the date is July 1. Nobody had any business to be not be ready,” the finance minister said, while confirming that the new system of indirect taxes kicks in at midnight on June 30 for which a special function will be held in Parliament’s Central Hall.
“There is still two-and-a-half months to be ready, but if he (a business) is still not ready, I am afraid, but he doesn’t want to be ready,” he said.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the biggest overhaul of India’s taxation system and will unify the country into a single market, replacing a number of central and state taxes being levied currently.
Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda will also be present for the function. Chief ministers have also been invited for the June 30 function at Parliament.
Jaitley said he expects some initial hiccups in the new taxation system.
“The challenges may occur due to some technical glitches or filing problems, but over medium to long term, revenues of Centre and states will grow and the size of formal economy too will grow,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
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