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Opposition picks Meira Kumar as Presidential candidate

New Delhi, June 22

The opposition parties on Thursday picked former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to take on NDA's Ram Nath Kovind in the Presidential election.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi announced Meira Kumar's name at a meeting attended by 17 political parties including the Left, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, DMK and National Conference.

Talking to reporters, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said: "There could not have been a better candidate than Meira Kumar for the post of President."

Meira Kumar, a Dalit from Bihar, is daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram. A lawyer and a former diplomat, she was the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha. 
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday said he will urge Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision to back NDA Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind.

"I shall appeal to Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision," Lalu Prasad said after the opposition parties announced Congress leader Meira Kumar as their Presidential candidate in the July 17 contest.

"I am going to Patna tomorrow (Friday) and I shall speak to him about this," he said. "I shall tell him he should not make a historical blunder by supporting Kovind."