The name of Dalit leader and Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind proposed by the NDA for Presidential poll has forced Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati to toe BJP’s line, who even announced to support him if the Opposition failed to come up with a better alternative.
“BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu informed me about Ram Nath Kovind’s candidature for Presidential poll. It would have been better had they discussed the name before announcing it,” she said in lucknow on Monday.
Hours after the NDA zeroed in on the Bihar Governor as the Presidential candidate, the BSP chief said that as the NDA candidate is a Dalit from Kori community, who has less demographioc share, the BSP would not oppose him.
“If the Opposition fields a better Dalit candidate then we will have to support that candidate,” she clarified.
Mayawati said that KR Narayanan, a Dalit, was the President of India in the past. Hitting out at the BJP, she said it would have been better if a a political Dalit was named for the Presidential poll.
Kovid’s election is almost a certainty as the ruling bloc with the support of some regional parties enjoy a majority in the electoral college. His candidature is being seen as a political masterstroke as many parties would not like to oppose a Dalit being elected to the country’s highest office.