Nitish praises Kovind, mum on his partys support

Patna, June 19 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday showered praise on Governor Ram Nath Kovind, whom the ruling NDA earlier in the day named as its candidate for the July 17 presidential election, saying he is "personally glad" over his candidature.However, Nitish Kumar was non-committal on whether his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will support Kovind.

"Kovind has discharged his duties in an unbiased manner as the Bihar Governor. He has worked as per the Constitution and upheld the dignity of the Governor's post. His was an ideal relation with the state government," Nitish Kumar said after meeting Kovind at Raj Bhavan here. He said he congratulated Kovind, a Dalit leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party, on his nomination as the National Democratic Alliance candidate, and added that "I am personally glad he is the presidential candidate". 

As to whether the JD-U will support his candidature, Nitish Kumar said: "It is difficult to say at this point of time. I had talks with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on this issue. We will discuss the issue later and decide." Kovind is likely to leave Patna for Delhi on Monday evening to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.