BJP’s presidential candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, on Tuesday assured that after getting elected to the highest constitutional post of the country, he will discharge his duties rising above politics as he had done when he was the Governor of Bihar.
Kovind, who visited the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday to canvass support in the upcoming elections said that his association with the BJP was a thing of past and now he does not belong to any party.
He was addressing a luncheon meeting organised by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi at Jalavihar on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake chaired by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The meeting was attended by all the top leaders of TRS, State Ministers, MPs and MlAs of the party.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State Bandaru Dattayreya, BJP general secretary Murlidhar Reddy, State BJP president M lakshman were also present at the meeting.
KCR, who was among the first non-NDA leaders to announce support to Kovind rolled out a red carpet and went all out to extend a warm welcome to him.
Several hoardings arches were erected by the TRS to welcome Kovind to Hyderabad. While several Ministers including two Deputy Chief Ministers Kadiam Srihari and Mahmood Ali received him at the Begumpet Airport, the Chief Minister personally saw him off when he boarded the special aircraft for Vijayawada on Tuesday afternoon.
Addressing the gathering, Kovind profusely thanked the Chief Minister for the warm welcome and support. Kovind declared that he would uphold the dignity and honour of the country’s highest post, discharge his duties above politics and in an unbiased manner.
“I congratulate and thank KCR for two reasons. First for the kind of welcome hoardings set up for my visit. The second is that he knew that I come from UP and hence he spoke in Hindi. Ours is world’s largest democracy and the President’s post is very important”, he said.
Recalling that Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, R Venkatraman, APJ Abdul Kalam, Zakir Husain who was from Hyderabad, Sanjiva Reddy from the united AP and all these great personalities brought fame to the post, Kovind said that he too will uphold the dignity of the post.
“Whole world knows the importance of our democracy and our Constitution. The Constitution is very crucial to our country. All of us have to abide by the Constitution. The President is also Supreme Commander of the three forces. Protecting the country’s borders is very important”, he added.
As Bihar Governor I worked above politics. I have treated every person equally and saw to it that no discrimination is shown. I will also discharge my duties in a similar way. Now I do not belong to any party. President’s post should be above politics. I will rise above caste, language, regional and geographical differences and will work for the over all development of the country. I will also do my level best to fulfill the desires of the youth and will work for the implementation of the new educational policy”, he said.
He congratulated to Modi for trying to achieve a new India by 2022.
KCR reiterating his full support to Kovind and expressed hope that he will win with a great majority. He sought the blessings of Kovind to Telangana State which he said was developing fast in all the spheres.
Earlier, Congress’s nominee Meira Kumar, had also visited Hyderabad on Monday day to seek the support. She had sought an appointment with KCR to seek the support of his party but he did not meet her.
It was in the sharp contrast to the warm hospitality he extended to the BJP nominee. “We are confident that with your experience and administrative skills you will bring name and fame to the Post”, he said.
KCR said that the TRS Government is showing cooperative and federal spirit for the policies being implemented by Narendra Modi to take the country towards path of development. listing out various challenges and problems Telangana faced at the time of its formation KCR said, “We are seeking your guidance and cooperation for the development of Telangana in future. I pray to God that you should be successful in becoming the President.”
later, Kovind attended a sumptuous lunch and tasted Telangana cuisine.
Soon after his arrival, he met the BJP legislators from Telangana at Haritha Plaza. His second engagement was at Hyatt where he met the YSRCP president and leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh assembly YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Jagan welcomed Kovind with a shawl and introduced his party MPs and legislators and assured his full support.