BJP’s Nomination Of Kovind For President Leaves Opposition Flummoxed
After weeks of speculation, the Bharatiya Janata Party has finally revealed its nominee for India’s next President: 71-year-old Governor of Bihar, Ram Nath Kovind. The two-time Rajya Sabha member of parliament has practiced law both at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court and, perhaps more importantly, is former president of the BJP Dalit Morcha and president of the All India Koli Samaj.
Prima facie Ram Nath Kovind seems to tick all the boxes. He hails from Uttar Pradesh where the BJP just enjoyed a resounding victory in the assembly election; as Governor of Bihar he is sure to get the state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s support and may lend an added advantage to the BJP in the next elections (Bihar’s next assembly election will be held in 2020); as a Dalit leader Kovind’s nomination leaves opposition parties with little to complain about.
The choice of Kovind took most politicians and political analysts in the media by surprise, probably prompting several wikipedia searches. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’ Brien admitted as much!
Curiously, not only do opposition parties seem surprised at the choice of candidate they are also lacking a substantial response - an alternative candidate that is. Atleast three ‘gathbandhan’ meetings of major opposition parties have been reportedly held so far. And yet the opposition has no candidate to put up, yet. Another meeting is reportedly scheduled for June 22.
The BJP’s masterstroke lies not just in the suprise that it has sprung on opposition parties, but that it’s also robbed them of any criticism.
According to a report by news agency ANI, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati said she was happy a Dalit was chosen but added that she hoped opposition parties would select another popular Dalit candidate.
The official Trinamool Congress twitter handle quotes party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as saying “I am not for a moment saying that the Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is unfit to be the President. I have spoken to two or three other Opposition leaders, they are also surprised. There are other big Dalit leaders in the country”.
Though he has not yet extended support to Kovind, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also leader of Janata Dal (United), said he was “personally happy” with the BJP’s selection.
Even BJP ally Shiv Sena said, in a press meeting in Mumbai today, that it needs a few days to comment on the selection.
As for the Indian National Congress; well its primary grouse seems to be that BJP did not share Kovind’s candidature with them in advance. News agency PTI quotes party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad as saying the BJP took a “unilateral decision”.
Senior opposition leaders tell me the chances of a Congress nominee being announced are still high, but it would depend on how much support they can gather from other opposition parties. One thing is clear though; no opposition party has as yet managed to identify any flaw with BJP’s selection.
The question now is - if there is an opposition contender who will it be? Will the Congress come up with a prominent Dalit name to counter Kovind? Or will they save the fight for another day.
