April 11, 2026 11:33 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Amit Shah promises UCC, ₹3,000 aid per month for women and youth in BJP’s Bengal manifesto | Nitish Kumar takes Rajya Sabha oath; power shift looms in Bihar | Sting video fallout: AIMIM snaps electoral ties with Humayun Kabir in Bengal | Israel says Hezbollah chief’s nephew-cum-secretary killed in Beirut strikes last night | Modi slams TMC on trade, fisheries at Haldia; vows 7th pay commission for govt employees | ‘US military will remain in and around Iran’: Trump amid fragile ceasefire | BJP eyes Assam hattrick, Puducherry comeback; LDF faces Kerala test | Israel claims Hezbollah chief's nephew killed in Beirut strikes last night | Jaishankar’s high-stakes diplomatic tour: EAM to visit UAE this week, first visit amid Middle East conflict | Passport row: Barricades outside Pawan Khera’s Hyderabad house after Himanta Biswa Sarma's warning

Opposition parties nominate Meira Kumar as their presidential candidate

| | Jun 22, 2017, at 11:42 pm
New Delhi, June 23 (IBNS): Countering the presidential nominee of BJP-led NDA, the Opposition selected former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar to contest the poll, on Thursday, thus giving it a Dalit vs Dalit twist.

Announcing the name of Kumar, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "The name of Meira Kumar has been selected unanimously by seventeen political parties for the presidential poll."

The meeting of the opposition parties had representatives from CPI(M), Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, RJD along with the Congress vice president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh.

The NDA has proposed the name of Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, who later resigned after the announcement.

The presence of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the meeting seemed to be significant, as his ally party of Bihar government, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) extended their support to the NDA nominated candidate.

Nitish skipped the Opposition meet on Thursday.

Both candidates of the NDA and the Opposition are Dalits, which had raised the topic of playing caste card in the political field.

While Kovind comes from Uttar Pradesh, Kumar is of Bihar origin.

Pranab Mukherjee's term as the president will expire in the month of July.

 

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.