Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today welcomed the decision of the JD(U) to support NDA's presidential pick Ram Nath Kovind, saying it showed a "wider acceptability" of the candidate "among the non-NDA parties".
The comments came soon after the Janata Dal (United) announced its support to Kovind's nomination, dealing a serious blow to the efforts of the opposition parties to put up a united candidate against the former Bihar governor.
"I welcome JD(U) president Nitish Kumar's announcement of support to Ram Nath Kovind, who has been nominated as the NDA's presidential candidate after discussions with the opposition parties.
"JD(U)'s support to Kovind clearly speaks of his wider acceptability among the non-NDA parties. This was the intent of the consultations with the opposition parties," said the information and broadcasting minister.
The senior BJP leader also appealed to the other parties to support Kovind's candidature for the country's top constitutional post.
Meanwhile, JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi said they would not attend the meeting of the opposition parties tomorrow as it had become "irrelevant" for them after the party's announcement of support to Kovind.
On Monday, hours after BJP chief Amit Shah announced Kovind's name as the ruling NDA's presidential pick, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had praised his tenure as the governor of the eastern state.
Tyagi, however, insisted that the JD(U)'s decision to support the BJP's presidential nominee was an "isolated" case, adding that it was all for the opposition's efforts to forge unity against the saffron party in the future.
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