Prez polls: Kovind begins pan-India tour to seek support from all parties
NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday met with MPs and state legislators of BJP and its allies from Uttar Pradesh, kickstarting his nationwide tour from his home state to seek support from various political parties.
Accompanied by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP National General Secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovind drove straight to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s official residence from the airport.
Adityanath and other senior BJP leaders and ministers earlier received 71-year-old Kovind at the airport here.
At the CM’s residence on the Kalidas Marg, he interacted with a host of senior party leaders including Union ministers Uma Bharti and Gadkari, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma. He also met with UP Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit.
Addressing the MPs and state legislators, Adityanath said, “It is for the first time that we will have the honour of having a person from Uttar Pradesh as our president. This honour has been bestowed upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.”
“It will be good, if all the political parties rise above the narrow party lines and vote for him. It will send a good message,” the chief minister said. He said that Kovind has led a simple life and that he has been working continuously for uplift of the poor, the dalits and the marginalised section of society.