Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy on Wednesday announced that the ruling All India Anna Darvida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) will support National Democratic Alliance (NDA) presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.
"We have unitedly decided to fulfill the wish of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi by supporting BJP's candidate Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president," Palanisamy said.
With 122 MLAs and 37 MPs, AIADMK has a substantial amount of votes that could swing the presidential elections in favour of Kovind convincingly.
Several non-allies of the BJP like Biju Janata Dal, Telugu Desam Party (TDS) and the Janata Dal (United) have also backed Kovind's candidature. Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav also said that he supports Kovind's candidature.
The Congress has expressed its displeasure with the BJP, saying they were not consulted prior to the announcement.
The election for the next President of India is to be held on July 17. President Pranab Mukherjee will demit office on July 24.
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