State BJP President Tapir Gao has also welcomed the decision that Bihar Governor and senior BJP leader Ram Nath Kovind would be the Presidential candidate of the BJP-led ruling NDA at the Centre.
Modi and Shah have shrewdly ensured that they cause a strategic split in the opposition camp while getting an ideological fellow traveler into Rashtrapati Bhavan. The choice of a Dalit leader makes it hard for the Opposition unless it also pits a Dalit against Kovind. "We expected that before they take a final decision they will come back to us", Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said. "All the opposition parties had collectively decided on evolving a consensus on the Presidential candidate when leaders of 18 parties met", Azad said. It has also garnered support from parties like the YSR Congress, which has almost 2 per cent, and the TRS, which has 1.6 per cent. So somewhere it is a political fight or contest. If they support Kovind, they will be breaking Opposition's unity, and if they oppose him, they stood the risk of being branded anti-Dalit.
Sources say that being Dalit, Kovind is unlikely to face opposition from other parties.
In a surprise move, the BJP announced that the low-profile Kovind was the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate for the July 17 poll. BJP President Amit Shah said after the meeting that Kovind would be the NDA candidate. "Based on the request of BJD, many parties including the BJP had supported his nomination", he said.
Kovind then drove down to Shah's residence where he was greeted by senior BJP leaders.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee suggested that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj or BJP patriarch LK Advani could have been a better Presidential candidate.
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Ram Nath Kovind, 71, is likely to take up the largely ceremonial post when the term of Pranab Mukherjee ends next month, becoming the second Dalit to be India's head of state.
He said the meetings with opposition parties was a formality.
However, Nitish Kumar was non-committal on whether his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will support Kovind.
Modi has clearly set his eyes on 2019 in describing Kovind's nomination as empowering a Dalit farmer's son who will be a voice for the poor and downtrodden.
"I am not saying that the Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is unfit to be the President".
Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. While stressing on the importance of waiting for the Opposition meet on 22 June, Jha said it must be highlighted that "in the prevailing situation, we desperately need a person who should protect the values enshrined in the Constitution". Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have hinted about possible support to the NDA nominee.
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