'This is How Meira Kumar Treated Me': Sushma Swaraj Tweets Lok Sabha Video

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday shared an old video of Meira Kumar, the Opposition presidential nominee, "interrupting her" repeatedly on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

Upping the ante in this 'Dalit vs Dalit' fight, Swaraj claimed that Meira, the then Lok Sabha Speaker, had "interrupted" her "60 times in a 6-minute speech". Sushma captioned the video, "This is how Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar treated Leader of the Oppostion."

In the video, Sushma, the then leader of opposition, can be seen launching into a tirade against the UPA government, referring to it as "the most corrupt government since Independence". A not so pleased Congress president Sonia Gandhi could also seen as the BJP legislators thumped the tables.

The Opposition parties had declared Miera Kumar as their candidate for the Presidential post, days after the NDA declared Ram Nath Kovind as their choice.

This will be the second occasion when a Dalit will occupy the highest constitutional office. The first was K R Narayanan, who was in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1997-2002.

The announcement of Kovind's name by the NDA exposed crevices in the opposition, with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar extending his support to Bihar Governor. The Opposition parties expressed their disapproval, saying they were not consulted by the NDA.

CM Kumar said the JD(U) took the decision after considering all aspects and the election for the top office should not be a matter of confrontation.

Kumar said his party had always taken independent decisions, including backing the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee, who was then the UPA's nominee, for the post while being in the NDA.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, however, said she was not upset with Nitish's decision, and urged all the parties to support Meira Kumar.