An election for President is essential, the Left said today, claiming that "it is a battle of ideologies" - a stand that resonates with the Congress. D Raja of the CPI said that the Left will support either former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar or former union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who are both Dalit leaders from the Congress, but it is for their party to nominate them. The BJP has announced Ram Nath Kovind, who was till today the Governor of Bihar, as the candidate of the national coalition that it leads. The opposition will meet on Thursday to decide whether it will back Mr Kovind, who is a Dalit, or put up its own candidate.
