Draupadi Murmu vs Yashwant Sinha in the presidential election to be held on 18 July.
Draupadi Murmu vs Yashwant Sinha in the presidential election to be held on 18 July.
Both the ruling NDA and the opposition announced their candidates for the presidential election to be held in July along with the parliamentary board of the BJP Former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu nominatedwho hails from Odisha and will be the first tribal woman to become the President of India. Opposition declared former finance minister Yashwant Sinha as its candidate.
The BJP called a meeting of its parliamentary board, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member, late Tuesday evening and declared Ms Murmu’s name as its candidate after a meeting that lasted over an hour. Other members of the parliamentary board, the BJP’s highest decision-making body, include Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh.
BJP President JP Nadda said that a consensus candidate is always desirable for the post of President, but it did not happen. “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and I spoke to leaders of various parties, including the UPA, but a commonality was not emerging. So we decided to field a common NDA candidate for the post of President of India.
He said that around 20 names were discussed as possible candidates during the BJP parliamentary board meeting, but it was felt that the new President of India should be from the East, should be a woman and should also be from the tribal community. (Ms.). Murmu belongs to the Santhal community), which never elected a president from his community. “In view of all this, it has been decided that Draupadi Murmu, the former Governor of Jharkhand, will be the NDA’s candidate for the post of President of India,” Mr. Nadda said. He said that the details of nominations etc. will be taken and shared in the next day or so.
Speaking about Ms. Murmu, Mr. Nadda said that like the second President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was identified with the work of education, so did Ms. Murmu. “She was a teacher and later entered politics as a councillor, then an MLA, minister of commerce, fisheries and animal husbandry. In 2007, he also received the Neelkanth Award for Best MLA. Between 2015-2021, she was the governor of Jharkhand and is a suitable choice for the post. She is a leader of great sensitivity, whatever responsibility has been given to her, she has fulfilled it with decency and competence,” Mr. Nadda said.
Opposition went with Yashwant Sinha
For the opposition, the decision on Mr Sinha took a winding path. After two rounds of deliberations and several informal meetings, the 84-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician was declared the opposition’s common candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. Mr. Sinha was elected after three public figures – NCP Patron Sharad Pawarthe former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq AbdullahAnd Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former governor of West Bengal – Refused to contest the election.
Tuesday’s meeting was chaired by Mr. Pawar, and was attended by representatives of 14 opposition parties. He said in the press conference that he had met Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said the opposition can count on the support of both TRS and AAP.
In the press conference, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh read out the joint statement of the opposition parties. “Ideally, a consensus candidate from the government and the opposition should be elected to the highest office of the republic. However, the government should have taken the initiative. We regret that the Modi government has made any serious effort in this direction.” Therefore, we appeal to all political parties to support the candidature of Mr. Sinha so that a deserving President can be elected unopposed in the country.
Now with both the names, the NDA has an advantage over the UPA not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of candidate, as the idea of the first Adivasi becoming the President of India would be a powerful impetus. Get support from various political parties like Biju Janata Dal (BJD), YSRCP, and others.