Will extend support to NDA’s presidential candidate: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced that the BJD will extend its support to Ram Nath Kovind, the Presidential candidate of NDA.
“The party had proposed the name of eminent tribal leader P A Sangma during the last Presidential elections. Basing on the request of BJD, many parties including the BJP had supported his nomination. Against this backdrop and the fact that Ram Nath Kovind is an eminent lawyer belonging to the scheduled caste community, the BJD had decided to support his candidature following discussion with senior party leaders,” Naveen said.
Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with the chief minister and sought his party’s consensus regarding the Presidential candidate.
At a press conference in New Delhi, BJP chief Amit Shah had earlier announced the 71-year-old former lawyer and two-time Rajya Sabha MP’s name for India’s next president, a move being seen as part of the party’s outreach towards the country’s backward castes.