Oppn parties to meet on June 22 to decide on consensus Prez nominee

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties will meet on June 22 to decide on fielding a consensus candidate for the presidential election, with the NDA declaring Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as its nominee for the post, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said on Monday.

The Congress on Monday spurned the BJP’S appeal for consensus on its choice for president and said the opposition would take a call on contesting the election after a meeting on June 22.

The BJP had taken a “unilateral decision”, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said soon after the announcement of Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as the NDA’S candidate for president.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that the Bihar Governor was nominated only because he had been a leader of the BJP’S Dalit Morcha in the past.

“There are other big Dalit leaders in the country. Just because he (Kovind) was a leader of the BJP’S Dalit Morcha, they have nominated him,” she said in a statement.

“The office of President is a key post. Someone of the stature of Pranab Mukherjee or even Sushma Swaraj or (L K) Advaniji may have been made the candidate.

In a setback to Opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday expressed happiness over state Governor Ram Nath Kovind’s candidature for the President’s post, but stopped short of committing support to the NDA nominee.

CPI national secretary D Raja said Union ministers Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu, who were part of the BJP’S three-member panel formed to hold discussions and build a consensus on a presidential candidate, had not proposed any name.

BSP boss Mayawati on Monday said her party is positive about the NDA nominating Ram Nath Kovind for the presidential election but wished the ruling alliance had named a non-political Dalit candidate for the top post.