NEW DELHI: NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Friday filed his nomination here for the July 17 Presidential election and pledged to uphold the dignity of the country’s top constitutional post.
Senior BJP functionaries said that with a large number of non-NDA parties supporting Kovind, they are confident of his winning with a huge margin.
Kovind, 71, filed the papers in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Chief Ministers of states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies as well as parties backing him.
After filing the nomination, Kovind came out along with Modi, Shah, party stalwarts L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, with others following them.
Those present included Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
The leaders waved towards the waiting mediapersons and briefly posed for pictures, holding each others’ hands in a show of unity and raised it in a victory sign. Amit Shah did not yield to mediapersons’ request for comments.
A former BJP MP, Kovind told the media after filing his nomination that he has had no party affiliation since he became the Bihar Governor after Modi took power in New Delhi in 2014.
“The President’s post 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,” he added.
Later, speaking to media, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that he could not understand why the Congress was opposing NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.
— IANS
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