Kovind starts pan-India tour from UP

Lucknow, June 25

NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind today met MPs and state legislators of BJP and its allies from Uttar Pradesh, kick-starting his nationwide tour from his home state to seek support from various political parties.

Accompanied by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP national general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovind drove straight to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s official residence from the airport. Adityanath and other senior BJP leaders and ministers earlier received 71-year-old Kovind at the airport here.

At the CM’s residence on the Kalidas Marg, he interacted with a host of senior party leaders, including Union ministers Uma Bharti and Gadkari, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma. He also met UP Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit.

Addressing the MPs and state legislators, Adityanath said, “It is for the first time that we will have the honour of having a person from Uttar Pradesh as our president. This honour has been bestowed upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.”

At the meeting, Gadkari also explained as to how to cast the ballot.

Though Uttar Pradesh has given the nation a number of prime ministers, it will be for the first time that the politically-crucial state will have the pride of sending someone to Rashtrapati Bhavan if Kovind is elected.

The closest the state came to having its representative in the President’s House was in 1969, when Mohammad Hidaytullah became the first Acting President of India from July 20, 1969 to August 24, 1969.

With over 62 per cent of votes firmly behind him, Kovind’s election as the next president is almost certain. Kovind, if elected, will be the second from the Dalit community to occupy the highest constitutional office, the first being KR Narayanan. — PTI