Murmu meets NDA leaders on eve of presidential poll

According to people aware of the details, Murmu, who was felicitated at the meeting, interacted with NDA MPs and thanked them for nominating her

The ruling NDA’s presidential election nominee, Droupadi Murmu, on Sunday said her candidature has sent a positive message among tribal communities and women, who are excited at the prospect of a woman from a marginalised tribe occupying the highest constitutional office in the country.

New Delhi, July 17 (ANI): National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu being felicitated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda during a NDA meeting ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, at the Parliament, in New Delhi on Sunday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, and others are also present. (ANI Photo) (Amlan Paliwal)

Murmu was addressing a meeting of the NDA leaders called on the eve of the presidential election.

According to people aware of the details, Murmu, who was felicitated at the meeting, interacted with NDA MPs and thanked them for nominating her.

According to a party functionary, Murmu told the lawmakers that there are around 700 tribal communities with over 10 crore members who are delighted with her nomination.

The BJP, which has the numbers on its side, is expecting Murmu to win against the opposition’s Yashwant Sinha with a huge margin.

“Party president JP Nadda said it is unfortunate that the opposition parties did not withdraw their candidate and allow Murmu, who comes from the Santhal tribe to win the election unopposed,” said the functionary mentioned above, asking not to be named.

The presence of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan at the meeting did not go unnoticed. Paswan’s faction was not counted as part of the NDA after his tirade against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the 2020 state elections. Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Paras, who broke away from the party with legislators and lawmakers and is currently a Union minister, had sought claim on the LJP symbol and is part of the NDA.

Both sides, however, downplayed his presence at the meeting. While people close to Paswan said he was not part of the NDA meeting, BJP leaders said he had shown up to register his support to Murmu.

“We had requested all leaders from all the parties to support Droupadi Murmu’s candidature as it is a historic moment. For the first time in seven decades since Independence, a woman from a tribal community has been nominated for the highest constitutional position,” BJP’s national media in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP, Anil Baluni said.

A training session was also organised for the BJP lawmakers to instruct them about the polling process. At the recently concluded meeting of the party’s national executive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed lawmakers and legislators to ensure that they vote carefully and not let a single vote go waste.