Prime Minister Modi and the BJP Chief Amit Shah surprised the Nation and also caught the opposition dumb struck. Even the media was put in dark and when everyone was reporting about Dalit Draupadi, they announced Ramnath Kovind a RSS man for the President post.
The TV channels were “breaking” reports of Sushma Swaraj as the choice all the weekend. Venkaiah Naidu who was in the selection committee always told that it could be a dalit, but never hinted at Kovind. Greattelangaana.com talked to him over the selection several times, but he just said that it will be a dalit.
Bihar Governor Kovind, 71, who comes from Kanpur, is a Dalit and therefore will expand the BJP’s outreach to the community after it delivered so well in the recent Uttar Pradesh election.
The choice explains Modi and Shah’s penchant for pulling off “spectacular surprises” such as the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
If elected, which is highly likely, Kovind will also be a President who Modi will be supremely comfortable with. Keep in mind that it is the new President who will swear in the next government in 2019.
Kovind’s selection is also going to challenge the opposition’s plans to to field a common candidate against the BJP. For example, it will be difficult for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who gets along reasonably well with Kovind to oppose a Dalit face. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati will also find it difficult to oppose a Dalit candidate who belongs to Uttar Pradesh.
While his selection is going to cause huge heart burn among senior members of the BJP such as Murli Manohar Joshi, Ram Naik, L K Advani, it’s a logical choice for the Dalit outreach and the mission of unifying “Hindu Nation.
Kovind will ensure that Modi has his man in Rasthrapati Bhavan, while he sets about recasting his party and the country in a saffron mould. It is learnt that the opposition is gearing up to field Meerakumar. Kovind will win hands down there is no doubt about this.
U.Srinivas
EDITOR
