BJP Picks Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind For President, Opposition Weakened: 10 Facts

The BJP has picked Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, for President of India. The announcement was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Amit Shah and other top leaders of his party on Monday morning. PM Modi, who on Twitter said the Governor would make "an exceptional President", has personally talked to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted birthday greetings to political rival Rahul Gandhi this morning. "I pray for his long and healthy life," the PM wrote, tagging Mr Gandhi's official account, which hours later, acknowledged the message.

Signalling that the Congress and the Left may have lost its opportunity to suggest names for the presidential elections, BJP president Amit Shah has dismissed opposition complaints that its two union ministers - Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu - did not go to them with any specific names.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today dismissed reports that she was a contender in the presidential election as "rumours".

Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury today to build consensus on the presidential nominee, but did not propose any name, prompting the Left leader to dub the parley as "more like a PR exercise" by the government.

The meetings today between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-member team and the three key opposition parties, the Congress, the CPM and CPI, did not throw up any name. The three parties indicated that the two Union ministers - Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu - wanted the opposition's cooperation. "The government says they have the mandate. The opposition should v...

Just a few weeks before the Presidential election, Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK has pledged its support for the BJP candidate, claiming to follow the "footsteps of Amma" or J Jayalalithaa, former chief minister and the powerful chief of the party, who died in December last year.

Ahead of his Sunday meeting with ally and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Amit Shah visited the Bal Thackeray memorial. His first visit to the memorial also happened to be his first stop after landing in Mumbai this morning. The Sena, however, skipped the political courtesy to welcome Mr Shah at the party founder's memorial at Shivaji Park.

Seven people, including a Mumbai couple, have filed nominations for the presidential poll so far, which is to be held on July 17 this year, though none have the signatures of 50 proposers and as many seconders from the list of electors, essential for a valid nomination.

The government's move of reaching out for a consensus candidate to succeed President Pranab Mukherjee has given pause to the opposition, which had been scouting for its own candidate. What can divide them further is a name - Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP-led NDA is comfortably placed for the July 17 presidential polls with a majority of votes on its side, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.

BJP chief Amit shah will meet ally Uddhav Thackeray, the chief of Shiv Sena, to formally seek support for the NDA candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. The two leaders will meet on the morning of June 18 at the Thackeray family home Matoshree in Mumbai, reported Saamna, the magazine linked to the party.

With the BJP confirming that it will announce its nominee for the next President of India by June 23, party leader Shatrughan Sinha appears to have made his choice. Since Tuesday evening, Mr Sinha, a former actor, has been tweeting in support of BJP veteran LK Advani.

The Patels have a dream. The couple from Mumbai, who filed their nomination papers for the presidential poll today, would like to share the two top Constitutional posts between them.

With just weeks to go for the President of India 2017 elections, both the BJP-led government and the opposition are prepping to nominate President Pranab Mukherjee's successor. Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced that the Indian Presidential elections will be held on July 17. The counting of votes is on July 20.

With just a few weeks to go for the Indian Presidential Elections 2017, political parties are yet to name their nominees for presidential candidate. However, one particular name doing rounds in social media is Draupadi Murmu, the present Jharkhand governor.

The Election Commission of India opened the process of filing nomination for the fourteenth President of India today. The nomination process will close in two weeks, on June 28. With President Pranab Mukherjee's term coming to an end in July, the Centre and the Congress-led opposition parties have intensified their efforts to find a suitable Presidential candidate. Op...

In about a week, the BJP and its allies will reveal their choice for President of India, the ruling party has decided today. The opposition - which met separately - has indicated that based on who the government picks, it will decide whether it wants to nominate a different candidate, which would then result in an election on July 17.

The process of filing nominations for the July 17 presidential poll began today with the Election Commission issuing a notification in this regard. The nomination process will continue till June 28.

With the start of the presidential poll process, the leaders of the opposition parties will huddle today to chalk out their strategy and decide on a consensus candidate.

Putting an end to speculation, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that he is not in the race to become the country's next President.

The stage is getting set for the elaborate ceremony of India's 14th president taking office with a committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha being constituted to oversee arrangements.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi announced today on Twitter that he is headed to Italy to visit his grandmother, leaving some puzzled by the timing of his journey, though the ruling BJP, which holds that Mr Gandhi lacks commitment to politics, said it's unsurprised.

The monsoon session of Parliament may begin for a month from July 12, five days before the date of President's election in which over 776 MPs are eligible to vote.