New Delhi, June 19 (IANS): Springing a surprise, the BJP on Monday named Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit and a BJP leader, as the ruling NDA's candidate for the July 17 Presidential election. "We have decided that Ram Nath Kovind will be the NDA Presidential candidate," Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said after a nearly two-hour meeting here of the party's Parliamentary Board attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders. He said the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance had been discussing the Presidential election for long. "The BJP also discussed the issue with all political parties and several sections of the society. After this, a long list (of candidates) was prepared which was discussed during the Parliamentary Board meeting," Shah told the media. Kovind, 72, who emerged as the dark horse, is likely to file the nomination on June 23, he said. If elected, he will be the second Indian President after K.R. Narayanan to hail from the Dalit community. The earlier names which were doing the rounds for Presidency included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. While all NDA allies have been informed of the BJP choice, Prime Minister Modi talked to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders about the NDA choice, the BJP President said. Modi also spoke with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (BJD), Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (TRS) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu (TDP). Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke to party veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. "Ram Nath comes from a Dalit family and has struggled a lot. We hope he will be the unanimous candidate for the election," Shah said. He said Kovind had had a long innings in public life and fought for the cause of Dalits and the poor. An advocate by profession, Kovind was made the Governor of Bihar two years ago after the NDA took power in the centre in May 2014. He once headed the BJP's Dalit wing. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for 12 years and was a member of several parliamentary panels. He had practised law in both High Court and the Supreme Court. Congress accuses BJP of unilateralism Accusing the BJP of unilateralism, the Congress on Monday said opposition parties will meet on Thursday and decide their strategy regarding the Presidential polls. The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, refused to go into the merits and demerits of the NDA candidate, Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, announced by BJP President Amit Shah earlier in the day. Azad also did not say whether or not the opposition will field a candidate for the July 17 contest. "So far as the NDA nominee is concerned, the Congress has nothing to say on the merits or demerits. All the opposition parties had collectively decided on evolving a consensus on the Presidential candidate when leaders of 18 parties met recently," Azad said. He said the opposition did not expect this "unilateral" decision by the BJP to name Kovind. "When (Home Minister) Rajnath Singh and (Information and Broadcasting Minister M.) Venkaiah Naidu met (Congress President) Sonia Gandhi, we had expected some names from them for discussion. But they gave no names. We had full hope that before announcing they would discuss some names. "Yes, they did inform us but only after they had decided on the name." He said the meetings with opposition parties was a formality. "The only thing I would like to say is that we expected that before taking the final decision on a candidate, they will come back to us and other opposition parties. "The opposition parties were given to understand that they will be taken into confidence. It is the BJP's sweet will and we cannot help that." Azad said all leaders in the opposition had agreed to attend the June 22 meeting to be chaired by Sonia Gandhi to take a final decision on the President's election.
