Hyderabad: NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said he has had no affiliation to any political party for the last few years and that he would discharge his duties as President of India in an apolitical manner, without compromising the dignity and decorum attached to the position. Mr Kovind was speaking at a function organised by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti in his honour.
He stressed that as head of the Consti-tution he will function as per the rich traditions established by his predecessors. He said though he had been in the Bharatiya Janata Party for several years, he had resigned his party membership before he took oath as the Governor of Bihar. “I have not joined any political party even after I resigned as Governor and now as Presidential nominee I will be above politics,” Mr Kovind said.
He pledged to stand for the all-round development of the nation, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, region and geographical considerations. He thanked Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for announcing his support for his candidacy well before his name was officially announced by the NDA. He also thanked the Chief Minister for the rousing reception at Begumpet airport and for the number of hoardings put up in the city to welcome him.
He thanked Mr Rao for speaking in Hindi, which he said was the national language, to honour him, as he hails from the Hindi belt. He proclaimed that the Indian Constitution was like the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran and the Bible for him. Being the President of a nation of over 125 crore people and the largest democratic country in the world was an honour, with predecessors such as Rajendra Prasad, Sarve-palli Radhakrish-nan, R. Venkatraman, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Dr Zakir Hussain, Dr Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy to look up to.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘New India’ by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of independence, Mr Kovind said, “I will do my best to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the country.”
