Victory of women power

Oppn parties decided to field Meira Kumar as their Presidential candidate on Thursday

Of the leaders of the 17 Opposition parties that gathered on Thursday to discuss the name of their Presidential candidate, Bahujan Samaj Party and Trinamool Congress leaders stressed that their respective party chiefs have been in the forefront of proposing and supporting former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s name. While BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra spoke about his party chief Mayawati’s support for Kumar, it was Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien who stole the show. O’Brien first spoke at length about West Bengal Chief Minister, and party chief, Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit to The Hague. O’Brien then said how three women have led the way in supporting the candidature of another woman. He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose party has the largest number of votes in the Presidential electoral college among the Opposition ranks, followed by Banerjee, with the second largest number of votes, and finally BSP chief Mayawati have come together to pick Kumar. O’Brien said the result of the Presidential election notwithstanding, it was the victory of women power.