The Congress-led Opposition's Presidential candidate Meira Kumar described her upcoming contest with the ruling party's nominee, Ram Nath Kovind, as a “fight of ideologies” on Tuesday, ahead of filing her papers for the election on Wednesday in the presence of top Opposition leaders.
She said this at her first press conference here after being selected as the joint candidate of 17 Opposition parties. This unity, she said, speaking at the Constitution Club, is based “on their firm ideological positions — democratic values, inclusiveness, social justice, freedom of press, transparency, end of poverty, destruction of caste structure — as some of those cherished values, which form an important component of this ideology”.
Thanking the Opposition parties for unanimously selecting her as their candidate to contest the July 17 presidential election, she stressed that this ideology “is very close to my heart”, and that in the coming election, “this will be my plank on which I will contest”.
Inspired by Gandhi
The former Lok Sabha Speaker is likely to start her campaign on June 30 from the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, after the scrutiny of her nomination. Mahatma Gandhi, she said, led the freedom struggle and threw out a big empire on the basis of truth and non-violence. “One derives a lot of strength from there and that is why I am going there,” she said.
Pointing out that in the previous presidential elections, caste was never discussed, she said, “But when Dalits contest, their caste is being discussed and their virtues become subordinate. So I can clearly see how society is thinking in 2017. I want that we should wrap caste and bury it deep inside the ground, and our society should move forward.”
Responding to a question relating to the fact that both she and Mr. Kovind are Dalits, Ms. Kumar said, “This is the election for the highest post in the country. This is not a political war but a fight of ideologies. I am pained by the discussion over my caste. Why doesn’t society rise above these divisions?”
“Some ideologies benefit the weaker sections of the society, some don’t. We will not tolerate atrocities on Dalits and weaker sections. I want complete destruction of the caste system,” Ms. Kumar stressed.
‘Happens in politics’
Playing down the issue of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) decision to support the National Democratic Alliance’s Mr. Kovind, and not her, she said: “Such things happen in politics. I will decide what to do at an appropriate time.” On Union Minister Sushma Swaraj releasing a video of a Lok Sabha speech to indicate how she was treated as Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Kumar said leaders of various parties had never criticised her for her style of functioning, but rather appreciated it.
Earlier, Ms. Kumar had appealed to members of the electoral college to “heed the inner voice of conscience” while casting their vote in the Presidential elections. The President’s office, she underscored, “cannot function to serve narrow political interests”.
The post of President of India is “not symbolic”, she said, adding, and “capability and experience must always supersede” every other consideration while choosing the person for the post.
