May 12, 2026 12:22 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Suvendu Adhikari Cabinet clears BSF land transfer, census rollout, Ayushman Bharat in Bengal | Mamata govt's welfare schemes to continue: Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after first cabinet meeting | ‘One of life’s most emotional moments’: PM Modi performs grand Mahapuja at Somnath Temple | UPI trail cracks Suvendu Adhikari aide Chandranath Rath murder case; three arrested | Totally unacceptable: Trump rejects Iran’s peace plan in explosive showdown | Big defence boost: India successfully tests advanced Agni MIRV missile | India, Singapore unite for tough action against terror and transnational crime | TVK crosses majority mark with VCK, IUML support | I bow before Bengal: PM Modi’s powerful gesture at Suvendu Adhikari’s oath goes viral | Bengal turns a new page: Suvendu Adhikari takes oath as CM amid massive NDA show of strength

BJP picks up Bihar Governor and Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind as Presidential candidate

| | Jun 19, 2017, at 08:11 pm
New Delhi, June 19 (IBNS) : Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit leader, is the National Democratic Alliance’s choice for India's next President, BJP chief Amit Shah said on Monday.

He made the announcement after a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board.

Shah said PM Modi talked with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as well as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and informed them about the NDA's choice.

"We are for putting up a candidate from the Dalit community, who has fought his way to rise. We have conveyed it...Now they (Congress and others) will discuss among themselves and decide," Shah said.

A two-time member of Rajya Sabha and former national spokesperson of the party, Kovind headed the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha between 1999 and 2002.

Kovind comes from the Koli community, which is classified as scheduled caste in Uttar Pradesh.

Born in 1945, Kovind was a member of the Upper House between 1994 and 2000 and between 2000 and 2006.

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.