By Staff REPORTER
ITANAGAR, Jul 06: NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said the post of President is above politics and asserted that his effort will be to take every state in the country towards prosperity.
“A president never belongs to any party. All people irrespective of caste, creed and religion, state are equal. Vote bank is not as important to me as development,” Kovind said here while addressing the BJP legislators.
Kovind arrived here in the morning for a day-long visit to garner support of the state MLAs. Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, Lok Sabha member Ram Vichar Nittam and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himata Biswa Sharma accompanied him.
The presidential candidate said his dream is for a developed India with all sections of the people and region get equitable development.
“I need your support to fulfill my dream of a developed India and assured you that I will uphold the sanctity of the President post with utmost sincerity,” he appealed the lawmakers and added that equality among states and people should be the mantra so that the country develop.
Appreciating the people of the state for their Hindi speaking skills, Kovind said: “I feel like I am with people from my home state Uttar Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh with rich cultural heritage can be a small state for others but for me, it is equally important like UP and other states of the country.”
Kovind said the isolation syndrome of the people of North East has been removed after NDA came to power at the Centre.
Kovind also convened a separate meeting with the nine legislators of People Party of Arunachal (PPA), a constituent partner of NEDA, where the MLAs extended their support to him.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu in his deliberation said that though the vote value of each Arunachal legislator is eight compared to 208 in UP, all 47 BJP legislators including two independents and nine PPA MLAs would vote for him ensuring his victory.
Khandu lauded Kovind for beginning his North East visit from the state and urged him to give more focus on NE especially Arunachal, keeping in mind the state’s strategic location which share international border with China, Myanmar and Bhutan.
Earlier, Tomar said that many political parties who are not with NDA are also supporting Kovind’s candidature while Rijiju said that it was for the first time that a presidential candidate visited Arunachal as all decisions used to be taken in Guwahati.
Madhav while elaborating the procedure of the voting urged the legislators to ensure their presence in the state capital on the voting day.