It’s Draupadi Murmu vs. Yashwant Sinha in the July 18 presidential polls. The ruling NDA and the opposition announced their nominees for the upcoming presidential election in July. The BJP’s parliamentary council nominated the former governor of Jharkhand, Draupadi Murmu, who hails from Odisha and will be the first tribal woman to serve as president. of India. The opposition named former finance minister Yashwant Sinha as a candidate.
The BJP convened a meeting of its parliamentary council, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member, late Tuesday night and declared the name of Ms. Murmu as a candidate after a meeting lasting just over an hour. Other members of the Parliamentary Council, the highest decision-making body of the BJP, include Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, Roads, and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh, and General Secretary (organization) of the BJP BL Santhosh.
BJP president JP Nadda said that while a consensus candidate for the president has always been desirable, it has not materialized. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and I spoke to leaders of the various parties, including the UPA, but no commonality emerged. Therefore, we have decided to recruit a joint NDA candidate for President of India,” he said smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. She has rich administrative experience and had an excellent gubernatorial tenure. I am confident that she will be a great president of our nation.
Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and hardship, derive great strength from the life of SSt Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her understanding of policy issues and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country. “Considering all this, it was decided that the former governor of Jharkhand, Draupadi Murmu, would be the NDA candidate for the presidency of India,” said Mr . Nadda. He added that during the BJP’s Parliamentary Council meeting, about 20 names were discussed as possible candidates. Still, it was believed that India’s new president should be from the East, a woman, and belong to the Adivasi community (Mrs. Murmu belongs to the Santhal community), where no president from his community had ever been elected. “He said the details of nominations etc., would be dealt with and shared the next day or so.
Speaking of Ms. Murmu, Mr. Nadda said that, like India’s second president, Dr. S Radhakrishnan was identified with the work of education, just like Ms. Murmu. “She was a teacher and later went into politics, as a councilor, then MLA, as secretary of commerce, fisheries, and livestock. In 2007, she also received the Neelkanth Award for Best MLA. Between 2015-2021, she was Governor of Jharkhand and is a suitable choice for the position. She is a leader of great sensitivity; whatever responsibility has been entrusted to her, she has fulfilled it with grace and skill,” said Mr. Nadda.
Opposition goes with Yashwant Sinha.
The opposition chose Sinha in a roundabout way. After two deliberations and many informal meetings, the 84-year-old bureaucratic politician, Mr. Sinha, was declared the joint opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Mr. Sinha was elected after three public figures – NCP Patriarch Sharad Pawar, former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, and former Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi – refused to compete. Tuesday’s meeting was chaired by Mr. Pawar and attended by representatives of 14 opposition parties. At the press conference, he said he had spoken with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. According to him, the opposition could count on the support of the TRS and the AAP.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh read from a joint statement by the opposition parties at the press conference. Ideally, a consensus candidate from the government and the opposition should be elected to the highest office in the republic. However, the initiative for this should have been taken by the government. We regret that the Modi administration has not made serious efforts in this direction. We, therefore, appeal to all political parties to support Mr. Sinha’s candidacy so that the nation can have a worthy Rashtrapati who will be elected without opposition.” Now that both names are known, the NDA has an advantage over the UPA not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of candidates, as the idea of the first Adivasi ever to be president of India provides a powerful incentive will be to get support from various political parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the YSRCP and others.
