New Delhi The BJP Parliamentary Board on Tuesday named Draupadi Murmu, a tribal leader of the party from Odisha, as the ruling NDA’s candidate for the presidential election.
BJP President JP Nadda announced his name in a press conference after the meeting of the party high command.
Murmu (64), the former governor of Jharkhand, will be the first tribal woman to hold the top constitutional post if elected, with a strong possibility that the numbers are stacked in favor of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) .
Soon after Murmu was nominated as the BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the former Jharkhand governor has dedicated his life to the service of the society and expressed confidence that She would be a “great president”. “Draupadi Murmu ji has dedicated her life to serve the society and empower the poor, downtrodden as well as marginalized people,” Modi said on Twitter.
He said that he had rich administrative experience and had an excellent tenure.
“I am sure she will be a great President of our country,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that lakhs of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, have got immense strength from the life of Draupadi Murmu. “His understanding and compassionate nature of policy matters will greatly benefit our country,” Modi said.
Earlier in the day, the opposition had declared former Union minister Yashwant Sinha as its joint candidate for the post. Voting is to be held on July 18. Sinha will be the unanimous presidential candidate of several opposition parties including Congress, TMC and Samajwadi Party, the parties said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Opposition leaders who gathered at the Parliament House for a meeting called by NCP chief Sharad Pawar to decide on a unanimous candidate for the presidential election, unanimously agreed on Sinha’s name.
Earlier Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, 77, a diplomat-turned-politician, dropped out of the race after a coalition of opposition parties proposed his name.