Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : The opposition today chose former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, a Dalit, as its candidate for president against NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind.Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s name for Presidential election. All the 17 political parties have unanimously proposed name of MeiraKumar ji for forthcoming election.
Kumar, a former diplomat and daughter of the late Dalit icon Jagjivan Ram, was the unanimous choice of the 17 opposition parties that attended the meeting.
With Kovind also being a Dalit, this makes it a Dalit vs Dalit presidential contest.
“We have decided to field the name of Meira Kumar for the presidential election… We do hope that other parties also join us,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi said.
Her party colleague, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, said Kumar was a unanimous choice.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar proposed three names of Kumar, former union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Rajya Sabha MP Bhalchandra Mungekar, both Dalits from Maharashtra supprted the proposal.
CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury put forward the names of Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of B R Ambedkar.
“As a woman I would want to compliment Meira ji but they dont have the numbers. The majority is for Ram Nath Kovind with all the correct prerequisites.” Shaina NC tells
Kumar entered electoral politics in 1985 when she joined Congress. If the popularity of the two leaders is compared, Kovind, a little-known face in national political, loses out to Kumar who is a five-time Lok Sabha MP and the first woman to become the Lok Sabha Speaker. Kumar also has political legacy on her side, as her father Babu Jagjivan Ram was a former deputy prime minister and a prominent Dalit rights activist.
Kumar has also been the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009. In 2009, she also had a stint as a member of the cabinet as Union Minister for Water Resources, following which she went on to become the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
“BJP has not decided (Kovind as candidate) only on symbolism. Now there is no contest. It is a one-sided match and NDA will win with a huge majority,” says BJP leader Sushil Modi
