Presidential Election 2017: Ram Nath Kovind meets BJP MPs, MLAs in Chhattisgarh; seeks support

Raipur: The NDA’s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday met BJP MPs and MLAs from Chhattisgarh in Raipur and sought their support for his candidature, PTI reported. [caption id=“attachment_3758751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Ram Nath Kovind. PTI[/caption] The meeting was held at Chief Minister Raman Singh’s official residence in the presence of finance minister Arun Jaitley. “Kovind, I and the chief minister held a meeting with (BJP) MPs and MLAs. We hope Kovind will get a good number of votes from Chhattisgarh,” Jailtey told reporters. The closed-door meeting lasted about one hour. BJP office bearers, including the party’s state chief Dharamlal Kaushik, were also in attendance. Earlier, Kovind was given a rousing welcome at the Swami Vivekananda Airport here upon his arrival. The BJP has 49 legislators in the 90-member state assembly. The ruling party has 10 Lok Sabha members out of 11 in Chhattisgarh. Kovind, who served as Bihar governor before the announcement of his candidacy by the BJP-led NDA will be competing for the top post against Meira Kumar, who is a nominee of the Congress-led Opposition parties. Kovind has been the chairman of the Rajya Sabha House Committee and has served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Social Justice and Empowerment among others. Kumar, on the other hand, has the experience in electoral politics. She has been the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009. In 2009, she had a brief stint as member of the cabinet as Union Minister for Water Resources, which she quit after being nominated as the Speaker of Lok Sabha. With inputs from PTI