Bhartiya Janata Party keeps all others guessing till the end

New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janata Party has a knack of surprising others. Be it selection of a chief ministerial face in the past or selection of presidential candidate now it has sprung a surprise. Several names were in circulation during the past few days for the top constitutional position but none had mentioned the Bihar governor's name. The announcement by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah that Ram Nath Kovind will be its candidate came as a surprise to all the opposition groups and parties.

The names doing the rounds were those of senior party leaders like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan and Sushama Swaraj. Scientist M S Swaminathan was also mentioned as a candidate as he was the Shiv Sena's favourite. There were also people who thought that Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief , could be selected by the party because of his influence over the BJP.

None was preferred. After a two-hour long meeting of the Parliament Board the name which was announced had not figured in any other list.

There are several guesses regarding his selection. Some of them may be right. One is that all these years there have been Prime Ministerial candidates chosen from Uttar Pradesh but none for the Presidential position. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is representing the state in the Lok Sabha and who has been solidly backed by the people in recent assembly elections has given it as a return gift.

His being a Dalit may be the other factor favouring him. Excepting K R Narayan no Dalit has occupied the high office. It may politically help the party in the general elections in 2019. For Bahujan Samaj Party it may create some hiccups as by this action the BJP has established that it has an equal love for the down-trodden.

The party has caused a surprise in another respect too. It was expected that the announcement will be made on the eve of departure of Modi to the USA. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too had no inkling of it for he had told some media persons early this morning that they coul wait for two three days and not more.

His closeness to Modi and his admiration for him could have also played a role. Soon after his appointment as governor of Bihar Modi had told a gathering in the state, " he has spent his entire life for the upliftment of the poor, deprived and backward people". He has been head of the party's schedule caste and schedule tribes wing in addition to being a party member of the Rajya Sabha.

His election is almost certain. He will need only about 20,000 more votes-- more than the party and its partners will manage. With possible support of some regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal this number can be achieved.

Some parties may support him to create an image that they are not anti-Dalits. In the present day politics few want to be identified as anti-Muslim or anti-Dalit.

So far there have been 13 full-time Presidents starting with late Rajendra Prasad from Bihar to Pranab Mukherjee. In between two prominent persons have been appointed as working President including B D Jatti. V V Giri has also acted as working president but he soon took over as the full-time President.

Also Read: Growing BJP interest in Bihar has turned state CM its worst critic