Presidential Elections: Congress goes all out to enlist Meira Kumar’s qualifications to counter BJP’s claims

Presidential Elections: Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "Meira Kumar: ex-IFS officer, Union Minister for 9 yrs, Parliamentary experience of 25 yrs, Lok Sabha Speaker 5 yrs. It's about qualifications!”

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Opposition’s presidential candidate, Meira Kumar

To counter the NDA’s presidential candidate, the Opposition fielded former Lok Sabha speaker, Meira Kumar as its pick for the elections to be held on July 17. In response, Kumar said that she was happy that she was “unanimously selected as Opposition’s Presidential nominee by 17 political parties.” She was first woman to hold the post of a Speaker in the Lok Sabha. Kumar, who is a Dalit, has been considered by many as a strategic ploy pulled by the Opposition, as she is pitted against the NDA candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, who is a Dalit activist. He was the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.

The Opposition has faced considerable criticism from the BJP. Reacting to Kumar’s selection, BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said, “When the Congress had the opportunity to elect a Dalit president when they were in power they did not find Meira Kumar suitable. But when the defeat of the opposition candidate is certain they have fielded her as a scapegoat. This clearly shows that it has no commitment to elect leaders from marginalised sections to high offices and had decided to field her purely done as a token exercise.”

The Opposition has emerged defending its decision, clarifying that Kumar was chosen solely on the basis of her credentials and not her caste. In an interview with BBC Hindi, Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “If you will look at [Meira Kumar] only through the narrow lens of caste, it will not only be unfair towards her or the Dalit community, but it will be unfair towards the citizens, particularly the women of this country.”

Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter and said, “Meira Kumar: ex-IFS officer, Union Minister for 9 yrs, Parliamentary experience of 25 yrs, Lok Sabha Speaker 5 yrs. It’s about qualifications!”

Here are some more tweets supporting Kumar’s qualifications:

#MeiraKumar deserves to be the President of India!
An Ex-IFS,Union Minister and Speaker of Lok Sabha-She has always outshined in every role! pic.twitter.com/T1CJYV307K

— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) June 22, 2017

Opposition Candidate Meira Kumar is a 5 time Lok Sabha MP. Speaker, Union Minister,IFS, Former Cabinet Minister: Here's a Detailed Profile pic.twitter.com/BPgKiwfH8o

— Rachit Seth🇮🇳 (@rachitseth) June 22, 2017

https://twitter.com/kurup62/status/878090148898119681

UPA has given a credible and qualified face for post of President now non NDA Parties must come along to support her #MeiraKumarForPresident

— Indian Youth Congress (@IYC) June 23, 2017

Her Strong Achievements :
1st Woman Speaker Of Lok Sabha,
5 Times LS. MP,
Former IFS,
9 Yrs Served As Union Min#MeiraKumarForPresident pic.twitter.com/fB3dysMTlI

— Bhushan Patil (@bhushankpatil12) June 23, 2017

. Former IFS, Ex Union Min fr 9 yrs, 5 Time LS MP, Former Speaker LS, Best wishes mam @dnetta #MeiraKumarForPresident pic.twitter.com/XEhujaTdYx

— Nattasha Sharrma नत्ताशा शर्मा🇮🇳 (@natasshasharrma) June 23, 2017

https://twitter.com/RamanDSingh_/status/878090783181733890

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Meira Kumar