Ram Nath Kovind: President's office above politics, Constitution supreme

HYDERABAD: NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said that the office of the President was above party politics and he would strive to uphold the Constitution. Kovind was speaking at a meeting organised by

TRS president and chief minister

K Chandrasekhar Rao with the legislators of his party, which was also attended by a few key leaders of the BJP.

Bowled over by the grand reception accorded to him by the TRS, Kovind said that he was touched by the gesture of Chandrasekhar Rao in opting to address the gathering in Hindi.

“Chandrasekhar Rao extended his support to the NDA even before my candidature was announced. It was nice on his part to be present when I fi led my nomination for the post of President,“ Kovind said at a grand reception organized for him by the TRS MPs, MLAs and MLCs at a private venue in Hyderabad. “We are proud to support your candidature,“ KCR, who spoke in Hindi from a written speech, told Kovind as the gathering applauded.

The NDA nominee said he has also taken note of the large number of hoardings that were put up in Hyderabad by the TRS to support his candidature. “I am touched by the gesture of KCR speaking in Hindi only by keeping in mind that I am from the Hindi belt,“ Kovind said.“The world is aware of the supremacy of our Constitution.And I will uphold it,“ Kovind said and promised that as President, he would function in a nonpartisan way .

Observing that he has not been associated with any party ever since he became the governor of Bihar, Kovind said he has been functioning in a non-partisan manner.

“Ever since I became the go vernor of Bihar, I have been working throughout in a non-partisan manner, treating every citizen of Bihar with equal status, without any discrimination. I can assure you that I will continue to keep the position of president above party also,“ he said.

In his speech, KCR said Kovind would get a landslide victory in the presidential poll. “You have the complete support of the TRS. We will take your advice in the future in taking the state forward.“

As soon as Kovind arrived at the venue, he got a standing ovation from the gathering. Earlier, he was welcomed at Begumpet airport by deputy chief minister Kadiam Srihari and other ministers and party leaders.

The reception was also attended by a galaxy of BJP leaders including Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Bandaru Dattatreya, state party chief K Laxman and national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao.