He did so in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, and a phalanx of other leaders.
He was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his trip to Parliament House to file his papers.
It is still not clear if Kovind would also meet Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav or SP chief Akhilesh Yadav but sources said since Kovind would stay overnight in Lucknow, he might meet lawmakers and leaders of other parties over dinner.
Kovind is former Governor of Bihar. The presidential polls will witness a Dalit versus Dalit as 17 Opposition parties yesterday had announced that former Lok Sabha Speaker and senior Congress leader Meira Kumar will be their candidate against Kovind.
By picking Meira Kumar, 72, to contest against Mr Kovind, the opposition has turned it into a Dalit vs Dalit battle, seen as strategy to ensure the support of leaders like Mayawati, who said it would be hard for her to vote against a Dalit leader for the top post.
Unhealthy outlook for repealing ObamaCare as some GOP senators defect from bill
Even Republican support for the bill is retreating: 69 percent of Trump supporters said in May that they backed the GOP's plan. As of now, there are at least five senators who have said they can't vote for the bill in its current form .
Nitish, facing calls to revoke his decision to support Kovind, said on Friday, "It is an election for President". Another set of nomination papers will be filed on the last day of filing nomination for the presidential election 2017. The Opposition bloc has named former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against Mr Kovind.
While Sena claimed it was not invited, BJP leaders blamed it on a miscommunication.
Kovind, if elected, will be the second dalit to occupy the highest constitutional office. The Janata Dal (United) (1.91 percent) is also backing him. Kovind hails from Kanpur Dehat village and had been two-time Rajya Sabha MP from the state.
In the 2012 elections, Congress led UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee garnered 7,13,763 votes which was 69.31 per cent of the total collegium vote.
Meira Kumar has 1,66,380 votes of MPs while the remaining 2,09,881 committed votes for her are coming from legislators in states. His nomination by the BJP is now being seen as a "political masterstroke". Speaking to TNT -The Northeast Today, CPI-M state secretary Bijan Dhar said that all left parties had an ideological battle to fight with BJP and their Hindutva masters - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha. "The post of President is above party politics", he maintained.
Comments