Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind will be NDA's Presidential candidate, said BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday.
Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind will be NDA's Presidential candidate, said BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday.
The decision was announced after the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting that took place in Delhi.
The BJP Parliamentary Board meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, Union Ministers - Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari.
Kovind may file his nomination for president on June 23, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for the US.
Shah said political parties had been informed of the NDA's choice. "I hope all will agree to the name," he said at a press conference.
BJP stalwarts LK Advani and MM Joshi were informed before the announcement of Ramnath Kovind's name as the NDA's candidate
The 71-year-old low profile Dalit leader, a two-term BJP Rajya Sabha member, is seen as an astute choice by the saffron party, which has been targeted by opposition parties over Dalit issues, and his election is almost a certainty as the ruling bloc with the support of some regional parties enjoys a majority in the electoral college.
K R Narayanan was the country's first Dalit president.
The BJP has lined up its Union ministers and senior leaders of its allies as proposers and seconders for filing the nomination papers of the presidential candidate.
BJP President Amit Shah had formed a panel comprising senior cabinet ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu to consult with allies and opposition parties for the presidential candidate.
The Election Commission of India had started the process of filing the nomination for the fourteenth President of India on June 14. The nomination process will close in two weeks -- June 28. But the nomination of the BJP's presidential candidate is likely to be filed by June 23, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leaving for the US on June 24.
Voting will take place on July 17 from 10 am to 5 pm at the places of polling fixed under the rules. The result will be out on July 20.
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