The Opposition on Thursday chose former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate, making it a Dalit versus Dalit contest.
Flanked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind on Friday filed his nomination papers for the July 17 Presidential election.
He said that the post of President was above politics, and that he had left political affiliation after he took over as Bihar Governor in 2015.
The Opposition on Thursday chose former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate, making it a Dalit versus Dalit contest.
A battery of leaders had assembled in the Parliament Library from where they accompanied Kovind in a procession to Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra's office. Mishra has been designated as the returning officer for the election.
The leaders included BJP's LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, besides UP CM Adityanath, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti and Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami.
NDA partner Shiv Sena was, however, conspicuously absent. BJP leaders later attributed the absence to some misunderstanding.
Kovind filed three sets of nomination papers. He will file another set on June 28 — the last day of nominations. Every set was signed by 60 leaders as proposers and 60 as seconders. As many as 480 MPs/MLAs signed Kovind's nomination papers.
Sources say Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Anandrao Vithoba Adsul came to Delhi and returned after signing the papers as proposers without being present at the time of nominations. Unlike other NDA allies, Sena had not given a carte blanche to the alliance leader to pick the Presidential nominee. Sena had earlier proposed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat or agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan for the top constitutional post, but after the BJP went ahead with Kovind, it waited for a day before finally coming on board.
Kovind's victory seems certain, as the NDA has managed to secure over 62 per cent of all Electoral College votes for him with the support from many regional parties. Sources in the BJP expected 65 per cent votes going in Kovind's favour with the support of 28 parties and 20 chief ministers.
Addressing the media after filing his nomination, Kovind said, "In our country, the Constitution is supreme. We have to uphold the values enshrined in it." He said that he was going to occupy the position once occupied by illustrious people like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and APJ Abdul Kalam.
"I am thankful to all those who have supported me. I will do everything to maintain the dignity of the country's top post," he said.
Kovind said he would always strive to fulfil the dream of "Bharat Nirman." He also said that the President was also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and that India's national security would be among his priorities.
A campaign and tour has been scheduled for Kovind by the party in consultation with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar. Kovind, accompanied by Kumar, will start touring states from June 25. Starting with UP, he will approach leaders of all parties which form part of the Electoral College.
In Bihar, the equation for the Opposition changed on Wednesday after state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose to back Kovind. The Opposition tried to put Nitish in a tight spot by fielding Bihar's Meira Kumar. She is a former PM and renowned Dalit leader Jagjivan Ram's daughter. Kovind is from UP's Kanpur Dehat district and was Bihar's Governor before he quit to file his nomination.
While the first set of Kovind's nomination papers was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, besides others, the second set came from Shah and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and former Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal were proposers in the third set, while the fourth one was signed by Andhra Pradesh CM M Chandrababu Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
President Pranab Mukherjee's term ends on July 24. The new President is to be sworn in on July 25.
Kovind is temporarily staying at 10, Akbar Road, where Mukherjee will shift on July 25 after vacating the Rashtrapati Bhavan for him.
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