Will act impartially if elected President, says Kovind

Bengaluru, Jul 6: The NDA candidate in the Presidential election, Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday welcomed the support extended to him by some non-NDA parties and assured that he will act in an impartial manner if elected as the President.

Addressing the BJP MLAs, MPs and other legislators as part of his election campaign, Kovind is learnt to have said that the decision of the non-NDA parties to support him will go a long way in helping the country uplift the downtrodden and oppressed classes. The media was not allowed to cover the meeting held at a star hotel here.

MLAs and MPs are the voters in the presidential elections. All three MLAs of BSR (Badavara Shramikara Raithara) Congress – H T Suresh Babu, S Thippeswamy and P Rajiv, MP (Independent) Rajiv Chandrasekhar and an Independent MLA B Nagendra of Kudligi in Ballari district pledged their support to the NDA candidate during the meeting.

Non-NDA parties such as the JD(U), the BJD, the TDP, the TRS, the AIADMK and many smaller parties have already announced their support to Kovind. Former Loka Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is the joint Opposition candidate in the election.

Kovind also briefed the lawmakers on the voting pattern and the system of voting in the Presidential election. He said every vote will be important in the election and thanked the lawmakers for extending their support to him, sources in the BJP said.

According to the sources, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said that efforts are being made to woo the support of other independent MLAs in Karnataka. The decision to field Kovind is widely accepted and he is poised for an easy win in the election. All the BJP legislators have been directed to be present in Bengaluru the day before the polling. State unit of the party will conduct a training session to all the legislators on the Presidential election, he added.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar said many independent MLAs have assured support to Kovind. He said he has already spoken to Independent MLAs Haladi Srinivasa Shetty and Ashok Kheny in this regard.

Union Ministers Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananda Gowda, BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey and Leader of the Opposition in the Council K S Eshwarappa were present.

Koli community fumes at BJP

The members of Koli community on Wednesday staged a protest against BJP leaders for not allowing them to felicitate NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

Soon after Kovind left the venue, the community members even tried to gherao former minister Aravind Limbavali to express their anguish. The police immediately intervened and ensured that Limbavali left the venue safely. Incidentally, Kovind belongs to the Koli community. Earlier, Kovind addressed BJP legislators at a star hotel as part of his campaign for the presidential elections. In a release later, the party said that a large number of people from different walks of life, including some from Koli community, wanted to felicitate the NDA candidate. But Kovind had refused to be felicitated, it said.