Politicians, freedom fighters and civil society activists on Wednesday appealed to all voters of the Presidential election to vote according to their conscience, freely and openly.
The activists also requested the electors including the Chief Ministers of Odisha and Bihar to exercise their conscience vote keeping in view the greater interest of the country and the Constitution. Voters need to consider and compare the past records of both the candidates and exercise option to whom to vote.
In the forthcoming Presidential Elections there are two main contestants namely Ram Nath Kovind fielded by the NDA and Meira Kumar by the UPA ,the speakers said.
They further said it is admitted Kovind was a RSS worker. He was the Governor for two years and twice elected to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP. Besides, he was a High Court and Supreme Court lawyer.
On the other hand, Meira Kumar had a brilliant academic career and belonged to the Indian Foreign Service and represented India in many foreign countries. She was elected to the lok Sabha four times and served as the Speaker of lok Sabha for two years.
Both the NDA and UPA have fielded the candidates on the basis that they belong to the Dalit community. Nevertheless this plea is irrelevant and unconstitutional, the speakers said. Former Minister Bhagbat Prasad Mohanty, freedom fighter Bhabani Charan Pattnaik, RTI activist Pradip Pradhan and advocate Sudhir Mohanty were present.