Making it clear that there is no question of re-considering support to Ram Nath Kovind in the race of Raisina Hill, JD-U president Nitish Kumar said that Bihar Ki Beti Meira Kumar has been nominated as a Presidential candidate by the Congress-led opposition only to lose.
Earlier RJD supremo had termed JD-U’s support to NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind for the Presidential election “aetihask bhool (historical blunder)”. Describing Meira Kumar as “Bihar ki Beti”, Lalu had appealed Nitish to mend the “historic blunder.”
It could be noted that Ram Nath Kovind is comfortably placed in the Electoral College after JD-U and other non-NDA parties backed his candidature. Kovind’s election to the top post should go smooth unless there is cross voting on mass scale.
“There is no doubt about the result. I have great respect for ‘Bihar Ki Beti’ (Meira Kumar). But the Bihar Ki Beti has been nominated only to lose,” Nitish said.
“We have taken this decision after thinking on all aspects. And as far as JD-U is concerned, it has always taken independent decisions,” the Bihar Chief Minister said.
It could be noted that during the last Presidential election in 2012 when the JD-U was a NDA constituent, the party had supported UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
Showering praise on NDA’s Presidential nominee and former Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, Kumar said, “Ram Nath Kovind does not originally hails from the RSS; rather he started his political journey under the guidance of Morarji Desai. I personally like the way his discharged his duties in an unbiased manner in the capacity of governor of Bihar. It is a matter of pride for us that governor of Bihar would become president of India.”
The Bihar Chief Minister said the Presidential election should not be made into a political battle. Kumar said difference in opinion on Presidential will no way have impact on the Grand Alliance in Bihar. “The alliance is very much intact,” he said.
Kumar said the decision of the Congress-led block to choose former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar as the Presidential candidate against former Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind will have impact on 2019 Parliamentary elections.
“The preparation for 2019 elections should have started with a strategy for winning but they (opposition) have started only with a strategy, which would lead to failure. The opposition is going to face defeat with such a strategy,” he said.
