Meira Kumar non-committal on seeking Nitish Kumar’s support

GUWAHATI: UPA’s presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Wednesday remained non-committal on approaching Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to seek his support in the election.

Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (U) is ruling Bihar in alliance with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, announced that his party will back NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind.

On Wednesday, Meira Kumar met Congress MLAs and MPs of Meghalaya in Shillong and interacted with party legislators from Assam, Arunachal, Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim in Guwahati.

When asked about Nitish Kumar’s support to Kovind, who until recently was Bihar’s governor, she said: “Such things happen in politics. This is not new to politics. I have written letters to all the members of the collegium to support me and listen to the inner voice of conscience.”

Meira Kumar said Meghalaya’s opposition party United Democratic Party (UDP) and Assam-based All India United Democratic Front have extended support to her.

The UDP is a member of the BJP-floated Northeast Democratic Alliance, a platform of non-Congress parties. UDP leader Donkupar Roy recently said that the party "will go by the winner”.

Congress insiders said they are in touch with several parties in the Northeast seeking support for Meira Kumar and that the feedback is positive.

Kovind will visit the Northeast on July 6. He is expected to get huge support from BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur. The ruling Naga People’s Front of Nagaland has extended support to Kovind. Six Trinamool Congress MLAs in Tripura have also decided to back Kovind.