AAP announces support for Oppn candidate Meira Kumar in presidential battle

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced its support for opposition candidate Meira Kumar in the July 17 presidential election.

"The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) headed by (Delhi) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to support the united opposition candidate Meira Kumar," party leader Sanjay Singh said here. 

He said the former Lok Sabha Speaker's representatives had telephoned Kejriwal and sought support for her candidature.

The AAP's vote share accounts for a little over 9,000 as it has 67 MLAs in Delhi and 20 in Punjab apart from four MPs from Punjab, which is less than one percent of the total votes in the Presidential election.

Sanjay Singh said the AAP was backing Meira Kumar since the opposition had a huge role to play in the country in the present circumstances. 

Kumar is the candidate of the combined opposition, however Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), that earlier broke its ties with NDA, declared its support for Ram Nath Kovind.

The Opposition, led by the Congress, had kept AAP leaders away from the multi-party deliberations for deciding their presidential candidate.