Meira vs Kovind: Lawmakers cast vote for next President
FINALE Modi hopes Kovind’s win can help BJP refute charges of bias against Dalits
India’s lawmakers in Parliament and state assemblies voted on Monday to elect the country’s next president in an election that pits two veteran Dalit leaders against each other.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee, 71-year-old Ram Nath Kovind, is expected to win the polls, described by his rival, opposition candidate Meira Kumar, as a battle of ideologies.
The result will be declared on July 20. President Pranab Mukherjee’s tenure ends on July 24.
“The presidential poll this time is historic. Probably for the first time no party has made any undignified or unwarranted comment on the rival candidate,” PM Narendra Modi said before casting his vote.
Modi hopes Kovind’s election could help the BJP shake off allegations of bias against Dalits, a charge magnified by a series of attacks on the community.
The polls also laid bare the divisions within the Congress-led opposition parties, which had hoped to project a show of unity ahead of the general elections in 2019. JD(U) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar deciding to back Kovind is seen as the biggest setback for the opposition. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD too has backed the NDA candidate.
With the numbers against her, Meira Kumar urged members to heed their “voice of conscience” and vote for an ideology that binds India.