In a rather unexpected move, the BJP has chosen Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind as their candidate for the upcoming Presidential election. The decision was taken in the party's parliamentary board meeting, held on Monday. The meeting was chaired by PM Modi. Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari were also present.

Context India's Presidential elections 2017 Credits:

India is gearing up for its Presidential elections with incumbent Pranab Mukherjee set to step down after his five year term. The NDA alliance and opposition are aggressively working to present a strong Presidential face and formulating strategies to garner votes. The last date for filing of nominations is June 28. The poll are scheduled for 17 July and the counting on July 20.

BJP's likely candidates

BJP has strictly kept the identity of its potential candidate under the wraps. Rumoured names have included 'Metro Man' E.Sreedharan, Jharkhand governor, Draupadi Murmu, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior leader LK Advani.

Significance Why is this significant for BJP?