Presidential election ideology-based this time, says Meira Kumar

Jaipur, July 11: Congress-led Opposition's presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Tuesday said that this time the election is not a fight between two candidates, but a fight of ideologies.

"The presidential election used to be a fight between two individuals. For the first time, I think it is going to be a contest between two ideologies or ideology-based elections," she said while addressing a press conference at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office here.

The former Speaker of the Lok Sabha said: "I am a candidate of 17 opposition parties and they have committed to fight this election based on ideology. I have sought support from all the parties and personally written to all MPs and MLAs, irrespective of their parties, requesting them to vote according to their inner voice."

Kumar was here in connection of seeking support for the presidential elections to be held on July 17. Senior leaders of the Congress including former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress president Sachin Pilot, among others, were present with her.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has eight Rajya Sabha members from the state while Congress has two. Similarly, all 25 Lok Sabha members are from BJP. Of the 200 seats in the state assembly, BJP has 161 members and the Congress has only 24.