A total of 17 Opposition parties, with their sights focused on putting up a strong and united challenge to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, decided to field former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar as their presidential candidate.
This makes the contest a Dalit versus Dalit race. Kumar is likely to file her nomination on Tuesday or Wednesday, the latter being the last day to do so.
The choice of Kumar, who hails from Bihar and is the daughter of the late Dalit icon, Jagjivan Ram, is also expected to put pressure on Bihar