Urges elected representatives to ‘listen to their inner voice’

Mumbai: The United Progressive Alliance’s presidential nominee and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar on Friday questioned why she and her rival, Ram Nath Kovind, were being seen only as Dalits, and asked if caste was discussed as intensely in previous presidential elections when upper-caste candidates were in the fray.

“In previous battles for the President’s post, when upper-caste candidates contested, their qualifications, degrees and abilities were discussed. But now, only caste is discussed in such a manner as if there is no other issue. Why does society think in this manner?” she asked.

Ms. Kumar was in Mumbai to meet elected representatives of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and other allies as part of her presidential campaign.

Ms. Kumar said that while citizens want state-of-the-art development in the country, they do not ponder about such a mindset in society.

Accepting that she may not seem to have enough numbers to win the poll, Ms. Kumar said the fight was not only to win the supreme position, but a very strong articulation about what is happening in the country. “When I open the newspaper every morning, I do not want to read someone being killed in some part of the country,” she said. The government needs to take strong actions, not just use words, since it has a majority in the Lok Sabha, she said.

Making an emotional appeal to the elected representatives across party lines, Ms. Kumar asked them to vote listening to their souls. “To run a diverse country such as this, it is important to have an election based on ideology. I have written to all MLAs and MPs, and asked them to listen to their inner voices. This is the time when such inner voices are of utmost importance,” she said.