Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday tweeted an appeal to all the state legislators to extend unanimous support to elect Droupadi Murmu as India’s next President, calling her “daughter of the state”.
Patnaik, who was in the Vatican City on Wednesday, sought everyone’s support for Murmu, who is likely to be the first tribal President of the country. Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab too called Murmu’s nomination as the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s presidential nominee a proud moment for the state and appealed to all MPs and MLAs from Odisha to unitedly vote for her and ensure her victory in the Presidential polls.
The BJD’s unequivocal support for Murmu will help ensure that the Narendra Modi government, which was just short of the required majority mark of 543,216 votes for the presidential election by less than 20,000 votes, comfortably clears the July 18 vote. Patnaik’s BJD has 31,686 votes in this election.
Patnaik’s tweet came a day after he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed Murmu’s candidature with him, though he did not specify when the discussion took place. There was speculation in Odisha if PM Modi discussed it at his meeting with Patnaik on May 30.
“The chief minister’s tweet makes it clear that PM and CM had indeed discussed Murmu. It may have been a few hours before the announcement or even a few days earlier. It shows the mutual trust that the two leaders have between them,” said BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty.
Mohanty, however, underlined that the BJP will not be able to reap any electoral benefit in Odisha due to its presidential choice and that the BJD continued to be in a pole position with elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha less than 2 years away.
{{/usCountry}}Mohanty, however, underlined that the BJP will not be able to reap any electoral benefit in Odisha due to its presidential choice and that the BJD continued to be in a pole position with elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha less than 2 years away.
{{/usCountry}}“The panchayat polls which concluded in March this year showed that tribals in Mayurbhanj and other tribal-dominated districts voted overwhelmingly in favour of BJD candidates. The same thing happened in the civic polls a month later,” Mohanty said, stressing how Naveen Patnaik’s decision to appoint a tribal woman as minister of Mission Shakti department. “We genuinely care about tribal welfare,” he said.
Odisha’s BJP spokesperson Jatin Mohanty made a similar point about his party’s approach towards tribals. “Though we have not been able to convert the votes to seats in elections, we did well in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning several tribal-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies such as Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandi. Droupadi Murmu’s nomination is a message to not just BJP cadres, but to tribal people in general that the central government believes in sab ka saath, sab ka vishwas,” said Mohanty.
Odisha BJP chief Sameer Mohanty described Murmu’s candidature as another gift from PM Modi to the people of Odisha. “The decision has many implications and it is a matter of pride for the 4.5 crore Odias in the state. PM Modi has yet again proven that Purvodaya can only be achieved through Odisha. It is beyond our imagination how a woman belonging to a poor family who has overcome many adversities in her life has emerged as such a strong leader and personality,” he said.