Kolkata: Hours after BJP sprung a surprise by announcing Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as its pick for the presidential elections on July 17, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hinted that TMC is not going to support him.
The Bengal Chief Minister has always stressed that the Presidential candidate must be acceptable to all, and he/she should be a secular person and known to all.
Mamata, who is currently in the Netherlands on an official tour, said, "In order to support someone, we must know the person. Candidate should be someone who will be beneficial for the country."
“I am not, for a moment, saying that the Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is unfit to be the President. I have spoken to few other Opposition leaders, they are also surprised. There are other big Dalit leaders in the country. Just because he was the leader of Dalit Morcha of BJP they have made him the candidate,” she said.
While backing BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani, she said, “The office of President is a key post. Someone of the stature of Pranab Mukherjee, or even Sushma Swaraj or Advani ji may have been made the candidate.”
TMC Chief National Spokesperson Derek O’Brien, taking a jibe at BJP’s Presidential nominee, twitted, “The name was announced at the BJP Press Conference. That’s how we got to know. Not even informed. How many of you logged onto Wikipedia today? I did.”
On June 22, the Opposition parties will meet to announce our decision on the presidential candidate.
The total strength of electoral college for the presidential polls is 11,04,546 votes and BJP-led NDA’s currently standing is nearly 5.38 lakh votes. President Pranab Mukherjee is slated to retire in July.
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