Not The Right Step For Opposition To Field Prez Candidate : AP CM:- The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister who earlier announced his support for NDA’s Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind (71) said that it was not the right step for the Opposition parties to field a candidate for the Presidential Election.
A leading news channel quoted Naidu, who expressed his confidence that Kovind would win the polls, saying, “With a huge majority, Ram Nath Kovind will win. This is apparent from the number of people who attended the event where he filed the nomination.”
Expressing his confidence that Kovind would win the polls, PTI quoted Naidu saying, “Ram Nath Kovind will win with a huge majority, which is evident from the number of people who attended the event where he filed nomination.”
This move came after opposition parties announced former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as their candidate, to be the next President. Yesterday, the nomination papers were filed by Kovind in the presence of the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and the Chief Ministers of states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies as well as parties backing him.
Kovind after filing the nomination, came out along with Modi, Shah, party stalwarts L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, with others following them. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal, and Naidu were among those who were present.
After filing his nomination, the former BJP MP told the meida that he has no party association, since he became the Governor of Bihar, after Modi took power in New Delhi in 2014. He added, “The post of the President carries a lot of dignity. My effort will be to keep the post above party politics. I promise I will try my best to uphold the dignity of this office. The Constitution is supreme and it is our duty to maintain its supremacy.”
Naidu’s TDP party was one of the first to announce support to Kovind, when his name was announced. The Presidential Elections are scheduled to be held on July 17. Meanwhile, the opposition candidate, Meira Kumar in a statement appealed to all members of the Electoral College to vote on the basis of “cherished principles of inclusiveness, social justice and pluralism.”
Meira added that, “The President post carries the responsibility of safeguarding and defending our constitutional principles. The values I hold dear - of inclusiveness, social justice and pluralism - are the values the President must uphold. If these values are undermined so is our Constitution.”
SUPRAJA
