Kovind to meet SAD-BJP MLAs, MPs in Panchkula tomorrow

NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind will meet MLAs and MPs of the Haryana and Punjab BJP and those of its ally SAD as part of his campaign for the July 17 election.
Kovind will arrive in Chandigarh tomorrow morning, Punjab BJP Secretary, Vineet Joshi said today.
He said Kovind will hold a two-hour meeting with the legislators and parliamentarians at Panchkula, Haryana.
The SAD-BJP coalition has 18 MLAs (15 SAD, 3 BJP) in the 117 member Punjab Assembly while the ruling Congress has 77. The AAP has 20 legislators and AAP's ally Lok Insaaf Party has two.
Among the Lok Sabha members in Punjab, the ruling Congress has four, the SAD has three, the BJP had 2 MPs but recently Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna passed away. The AAP has four, out of which two have been suspended by the party.

In the Rajya Sabha, SAD has 3, BJP 1 and Congress has 3 members.

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the ruling BJP enjoys a majority with 47 MLAs and the support of five Independents. The Congress has 17 MLAs.
The SAD has a lone legislator in Haryana Assembly while the INLD, which is the principal opposition party, has 19.
According to state unit chief of INLD, Ashok Arora, the party will take a decision tomorrow on whom to extend support to in the presidential election.
The party, at a meeting held here recently, had left it to party president and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala on whether to extend support to Kovind or opposition candidate Meira Kumar.

Among the Lok Sabha MPs in Haryana, the ruling BJP has seven members, the INLD two and Congress has one while the BJP has only one member among the five Rajya Sabha MPs. Media baron Subhash Chandra was last year elected with the BJP's support.
The Congress has two Rajya Sabha members and the INLD has one in Haryana.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP's general secretary Anil Jain will be among the leaders who will be with Kovind.