Draupadi Murmu: BJP takes tribal turn in Presidential election
Photo By Special arrangement
By S Jha
New Delhi, June 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu as its candidate for the July 18 Presidential election.
The BJP chief JP Nadda made the announcement at the party’s national headquarters after a short meeting of the party’s Parliamentary Board, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
If elected, Murmu will be India’s first tribal President. She will also be the only second woman President of India.
Murmu hails from Odisha. The BJP has been unsuccessful in making electoral inroads in Odisha while the incumbent chief minister Navin Patnaik continues with his magical run in the state, winning elections after elections.
She will contest the election against the joint nominee of the Opposition Yashwant Sinha.
The 17-party Opposition block after its meeting on Tuesday had named former Union Minister Sinha as its Presidential nominee.
If Murmu wins the election as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance, she will be the first President of India with origin from Odisha.
The BJP’s choice is seemingly dictated by the fact that the party has not been able to make inroads in the tribal vote base of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
The BJP has in the recent years made gains from the Dalit vote base. The party had named the incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind as its Presidential nominee five years ago while playing the Dalit card with eyes on Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
The BJP’s announcement on Tuesday also signaled that the party will bring a new face for the post of the Vice President also.
Murmu was an MLA in Odisha while her childhood is said to have been spent in poverty.
She had completed full term as the Governor of Jharkhand.
In her choice, the BJP has shown again preference for a Governor to hold the top Constitutional post of the country.
Ram Nath Kovind was the Bihar Governor when he was named the Presidential nominee by the BJP.
Murmu’s win in the Presidential election looks a mere formality, as Odisha CM Patnaik will bring additional votes in the electoral college while his Andhra Pradesh counterpart YSR Jagan Reddy can count on the tribal vote base to back the NDA nominee.
The Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too may not attempt any political adventure since he has been nursing women vote base as his core electoral constituency for years.
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