NDA CMs to be present during Kovind's nomination-filing

Kovind's nomination to the largely ceremonial post of president would be expected to garner enough votes from the BJP and its allies in an electoral college that brings together federal and state lawmakers.

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said he is not willing to support Kovind if making a Dalit the President is being done with the goal of "gaining a vote bank". The Mahatma, had on June 2, 1947 at a prayer meeting in memory of Chakrayya said that he would have proposed his name for the top post had he been alive. One may recall that Mohan Bhagwat, RSS sarsanghchalak, in 2010 had stirred a political controversy when he had advocated that economic background, and not caste, should be the basis of reservation system.

The nomination of Kovind, a Dalit leader, by the Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to have put the opposition in a quandary as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) said it can not oppose the NDA candidate unless the opposition puts up a popular Dalit candidate. PM Modi, who called Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao on phone, told him "as per your (the chief minister's) suggestion, we have decided upon a Dalit candidate for the presidential post".

Born in a poor family on 1 October, 1945 in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district, to parents who were small farmers, Kovind studied to become a lawyer.

Keshari Nath Tripathi, the governor of West Bengal, will now be discharging the functions of the Governor of Bihar, in addition to his own duties, the statement added.

He said the BJP leaders had promised to seek the opposition' consent on the Presidential candidate which did not happen.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said Kovind "was chief of the RSS's Dalit branch" and "somewhere it was a political fight or contest".

On June 19, the BJP announced the name of 71-year-old Mr. Kovind, a low-profile Dalit leader and a two-term BJP Rajya Sabha member, as its nominee for President. "They informed us after announcing this decision so there is no scope for consensus now..."

Raigarh Lok Sabha Member and Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai, Bilaspur MP Lakhanlal Sahu, Surguja MP Kamal Bhan Singh and others also signed as proposers and seconders on the nomination paper of President nominee Ram Nath Kovind. His remarks came hours after the BJP Parliamentary Board declared Bihar Governor Kovind as the NDA's choice for President. A Day after BJP announced the candidate, the opposition started breaking.

JD (U) - The Janata Dal (United), a rival of the BJP in Bihar, has not indicated where its support lies. Will they be able to nominate a Dalit leader more popular than Kovind?