Ram Nath Kovind, the former Bihar Governor and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the ruling alliance at the Centre, arrived in lucknow on Sunday to kick-start the campaign. Accompanied by Union Minister and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, the NDA presidential candidate was received at the Amausi airport by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
From the airport, Ram Nath Kovind drove straight to the Chief Minister's official residence at Kalidas Marg. Both the Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dinesh Sharma, Union Minister Uma Bharti and most of the Cabinet Ministers and BJP MlA and State Assembly Speaker Hridya Narayan Dikshit were present at the Chief Minister's residence.
In the meeting of the BJP MlAs and the allies, the legislators with a voice vote endorsed the candidature of Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president.
The BJP allies — Apna Dal (Sonelal) president and Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel, Bharat Samaj party leader and Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar were also present at the
meeting.
Kovind met all the BJP MlAs and Ministers and leaders of alliance partners and appealed for their support for the president election. Ram Nath Kovind after meeting the BJP legislators and Ministers left for Delhi. He will visit Dehradun on Monday, the State Capital of the BJP ruled State Uttarakhand.
In his brief address to the legislators, Kovind expressed his gratitude to the MlAs for coming for the meeting. “I have come to seek your blessings. I feel honoured for being nominated as the candidate for the office of President and I thank you all,” said Kovind.
BJP MlA Jagan Prasad said in a statement that none from the Opposition parties were present at the meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence. He said only the MlAs from the BJP and its allies were present in the meeting.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had invited the leaders of all the political parties, including the Samajwadi party, Bhaujan Samaj Party and the Congress. However, none from the Opposition parties turned up for the meeting.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has not only pledged his support for Kovind but also praised the NDA candidate. His son and SP president Akhilesh Yadav has already announced his support to Meira Kumar, the Congress leader and joint candidate of the 17 Opposition parties.
The electoral college of the Presidents election comprise of the MlA, MlCs members of lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Though smooth sailing for Kovind is a foregone conclusion, UP is important State for the NDA candidate as not only it has the highest number of MlAs (325) but also the number of lok Sabha MPs is 73.