In his first visit to his home State Uttar Pradesh after filing nominations as the NDA candidate for the post of President, Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday met BJP MPs and MLAs here and sought their support.
Mr. Kovind had a brief two-hour stay in Lucknow, where he interacted with the BJP MPs and MLAs at the official residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, 5 Kalidas Marg. Extending courtesy to him, Mr. Adityanath and other senior BJP leaders welcomed Mr. Kovind at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport.
Mr. Kovind, who is on a nation-wide tour seeking support to his candidature, was accompanied by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav.
During the meeting, along with Mr. Gadkari, Mr. Yadav and Mr. Adityanath, Union Minister Uma Bharti, UP Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and BJP organising secretary for U.P. Sunil Bansal were present on stage.
Straight-forward address
According to a legislator present in the meeting, in a straight-forward address, Mr. Kovind sought “blessings” for his candidature, and said that he decided to start his tour from U.P. as it was his “ghar” or native.
Mr. Adityanath and Mr. Gadkari introduced Mr. Kovind to the legislators and reflected on his background.
“ Mukhyamantriji described how Kovind ji gave up a career in the IAS and what a simple life he led,” said the legislator.
Mr. Adityanath hailed Mr. Kovind’s nomination as a “victory” in the fight for “social justice.” On the day Mr. Kovind’s name was announced, Mr. Adityanath had appealed to all parties in the State to support him, saying that there could be “no greater honour” for the Dalit community.
