Chennai: BJP's Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind is likely to visit Chennai on July 1 to seek support of the lawmakers for the July 17 election. In the keenly watched tussle, UPA candidate Meira Kumar is also likely to visit the city during the first week next month to drum up support.
During his brief visit, Mr Kovind would meet the leaders of various political parties, said a reliable source in the party. Already the three AIADMK factions have extended support to Mr Kovind while the opposition DMK here has already offered its support to Meira Kumar. Mr Kovind who would be in Chennai on Saturday as part of his nationwide tour would return to Delhi the same day.
The race to the country's top post intensified after the Congress fielded Meira Kumar, who had been the Lok Sabha Speaker during the UPA regime, as its candidate. During his two-day visit to Puducherry clubbed with a brief pilgrimage to Thiruvannamalai on Tuesday, BJP national chief Amit Shah accused the Congress of feigning to be a sympathiser of Dalits.
“The UPA fielded a Dalit candidate only after we identified a Dalit and nominated him. What would have the Congress done had we not nominated a Dalit to the post of President?” Mr Shah asked and added that it would have done nothing.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, besides lawmakers from all state assemblies, comprise the electoral college, totalling to 10,98,882 votes.
The vote value of a member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha is 708, while that of a legislator would depend on the population of the state represented.
