Ram Nath Kovind in Andhra Pradesh: NDA's presidential candidate to meet BJP, TDP leaders

Amaravati: NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind will meet MPs and MLAs of the Telugu Desam Party and the BJP in Vijayawada on Tuesday as part of his election campaign. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind. PTI[/caption] Kovind already has the support of 207 out of the 211 MPs and MLAs from Andhra Pradesh. One of assembly seats is vacant following a member’s death. Kovind will reach Vijayawada in the afternoon from Hyderabad and meet TDP-BJP lawmakers to formally seek their support for his candidature. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will later host Kovind over tea. Besides the TDP and the BJP, which are constituents of the NDA, the lone opposition party in the state, YSR Congress ( YSRC ), has also extended unconditional support to Kovind. The YSRC MPs and MLAs will meet the NDA nominee at 11 am in Hyderabad and pledge their support to him. The Congress, which fielded Meira Kumar for the President’s election, has only four members of the Rajya Sabha from AP. It has no representation in the Lok Sabha from AP, where there are 25 seats. It also doesn’t have a single MLA in the 176-member AP assembly. Meira Kumar has not scheduled a visit to Andhra Pradesh but senior leaders of the Pradesh Congress Committee met her in Hyderabad today and “extended support.” The state has 11 Rajya Sabha members — four each of the TDP and Congress and one each of the BJP, the YSRC and the TRS.