Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that Kovind would "make an exceptional president" and "continue to be a strong voice for the poor, downtrodden and marginalised".
Amit Shah, addressing the media after the party's parliamentary body meet said that Kovind's name was decided upon after consultations with Opposition leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Playing the Dalit card, the BJP on Monday named Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind as its presidential candidate.
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. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has requested our party leader and Telangana Chief Minister KCR to support the NDA presidential nominee. So there is no question of mutual consent. We only want to say that we had expected that before they take the final decision on the candidate they will come back to us and other political parties to build consensus first.
Non-NDA parties like BJD, TRS and YSRCP have already announced their support to the Dalit leader. Insiders said, the BJP leaders were wary of an Opposition mahagatbandhan - comprising Mayawati, Akhilesh and the Congress - happening in UP in 2019. "But it is their will, they are free to take a one-sided unilateral decision", Azad added.
"Kovind has discharged his duties in an unbiased manner as the Bihar Governor". "There are other big Dalit leaders in the country".
I am bound to pay my respect to him (Kovind) after declaration of his candidature for the post of the President India, the chief minister said. Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati said they are "positive", promising support only if the Opposition does not announce a popular Dalit name. He said the BSP supremo is opposing becasue Kovind is associated with RSS ideology.
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Kovind has served as a member of several Parliamentary Committees, including Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, among others.
To give a few examples of Kovind's involvement in political affairs, in 1978, Kovind, who was just 33 then, had asked the justification of the then Desai government's decision to scrap Rs 1000-rupee notes to curb black money. "Let us take it as a duty". For example, it will be hard for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who gets along reasonably well with Kovind to oppose a Dalit face.
The Sena said it would declare its stand on the matter on Tuesday.
In 2012, Mukherjee personally called up and later met Thackeray soliciting his support, which the Sena chief offered, going against the BJP-supported NDA candidate, P.A. Sangma. "I did", he said sarcastically. "I have told them about my views".
The Congress, however, spurned the BJP's appeal for consensus on its choice and said the opposition would take a call on contesting the election after a meeting on June 22.
The Election Commission of India had started the process of filing the nomination for the fourteenth President of India on June 14. The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the notification in this regard and the process of the nomination will culminate on June 28.
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