National Democratic Alliance announces the Candidate for India’s next President
National Democratic Alliance ended the suspense by announcing the Candidate for India’s next President. It was a surprise to all when NDA announced Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as its choice. With the NDA having an edge in the Electoral College, the BJP is confident of Kovind’s smooth sailing to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Kovind’s Background
Kovind, 71, a lawyer by profession and two-term Rajya Sabha member, is from Derapur tehsil of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh, the state which the BJP recently swept cutting across caste affiliations. Before that, he was BJP’s national spokesperson and had also headed the party’s Scheduled Caste Morcha from 1999 to 2002, when Modi was party general secretary.
A Farmer’s Son
While there were murmurs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would choose a Dalit for the July 17 Presidential election, Kovind’s name had skipped the ones being speculated. BJP president Amit Shah announced the NDA candidate and said that Mr. Modi had spoken to former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi about the decision. Kovind expressed hope that all parties will back his nomination. While tweeting, the PM recalled Kovind’s humble background as a farmer’s son and said, “he devoted his life to public service and worked for poor and marginalized.” Kovind’s election would make him the second Dalit President after KR Narayanan. Outside the NDA, Kovind’s candidature has got support from Telangana Rashtra Samiti and YSR Congress. Parties like Mayawati’s BSP, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD will find it difficult to reject the BJP’s choice of a Dalit candidate.
Killing two Bird’s with One Stone
However, the Dalit (SC) community leaders in Gujarat feel this is a calculated move by the government ahead of Assembly elections to pacify the community which is enraged over atrocity issues. Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani said, “When there were riots in Gujarat in 2002, BJP had made a Muslim, APJ Abdul Kalam, the President. Now when Dalits in the state are angry with the BJP-ruled state government, they are trying to pacify the community by nominating a Dalit leader for presidential elections. Dalit activist Martin Macwan said, “The reason for the choice of SC candidate by BJP is clear. They are concerned about Dalit votes in the country, which accounts for 16.52%. They are afraid Dalits will vote against BJP. Hence, they are trying to kill two birds with a stone. Firstly, they will be able to appease Dalits. Secondly, no party will want to challenge a Dalit candidate.”
