NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind will file his nomination papers today in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most BJP-led NDA chief ministers, besides the heads of some other parties supporting his candidature.
He said Kumar, who is the JD (U) national president, and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri during the DMK founder M Karunanidhi's 94th birth day celebrations at Chennai on June 4 had discussed the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi as the opposition's candidate and it would have stayed the course but for the NDA throwing a surprise by announcing Kovind's candidature.
Senior JD (U) leader Ratnesh Sada said, "All the leaders have decided that we will support Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president".
Stating that the JD (U)'s decision to stand by Kovind's candidature for the president's post is an "isolated incident", Tyagi said that his party would continue to be an integral part of the united opposition. "Though Kumar and Shinde's names are doing the rounds, there was no formal or informal word from the Congress side", a senior Left leader said. He said there could not have been a better candidate for the top constitutional post.
Like Kovind, Meira Kumar belongs to the Dalit community.
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Asked about the Congress's choice for the poll, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari yesterday said it was a "hypothetical" question. "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its candidate and it has the majority also but even the opposition has brought forward a good candidate", he added. "I will speak to Nitish to reconsider his decision to back Kovind as our fight against the fascist forces is based on principles and ideology", he said in New Delhi.
After the meeting, Lalu Prasad of the RJD said he would meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and "appeal to him again to rethink" his party's decision to support the NDA nominee, which he called a "historic blunder".
Nitish Kumar on Wednesday extended his party's support to Kovind.
Ms Kumar's name was also acceptable to the Samajwadi Party and the BSP. On Monday, after NDA declared Kovind as its candidate, Mayawati had said that she was happy that a dalit had been nominated.
Opposition leaders also maintained the bloc was united against the ruling BJP and that the JD-U continued to be with it, as its decision was a "one-off" development.
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