He was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his trip to Parliament House to file his papers. Also with Kovind were several senior BJP leaders, some chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and senior leaders of other parties supporting his candidature.
Shri Kovind is former governor of Bihar. In the Presidential election scheduled for July 17, he will face off with the Congress-led opposition candidate Meira Kumar, whose nomination was announced Thursday. Counting of votes is expected to take place on July 20.
As many as 48.9% of votes Kovind is expected to get will be from the NDA and the support of several non-NDA regional parties is seen as bumping that number to more than 63%.
“The opposition is bringing Meira Kumar’s name on the list because they feel left out. It’s predicted that more than 60 percent vote will fall for NDA’s chosen nominee Kovind. They have decided to fight it out through this poll. But we can’t help watching them lose,” said the BJP’s Prabhat Jha