How BJP’s choice is breaking whatever unity opposition has

NEW DELHI: With the choice of Droupadi Murmu, a member of the Santhal tribe from Odisha, as NDA’s presidential candidate, the BJP might have hit the bull’s eye.

The BJP-led NDA has close to 5.23 lakh of 10.86 lakh votes in the electoral college, comprising the elected MPs and MLAs, for the presidential election slated for July 18. It needs about 20,000 more votes to cross the majority mark.

Support for Murmu
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has already pledged his BJD’s support of 31,705 votes to the former Jharkhand governor. Patnaik, who met Pope Francis on Wednesday in Rome, urged the opposition parties to make Murmu a consensus candidate – tantamount to withdrawing Yashwant Sinha, the former Union minister and an ex-BJP leader, from the contest. The BJD sources even said the party is likely to be present during the nomination process on June 24, while a party MP may be a proposer.


Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who has a history of not voting for his alliance partner’s candidate in the presidential elections, also committed his JDU’s votes – 22,769 – to Murmu despite his recent rumblings against the BJP. Nitish said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him on Tuesday to inform that Murmu was being made the NDA candidate for the President’s post. “Heartiest thanks to the PM for selecting a tribal woman who has proven her mettle as a minister in Odisha and also during her gubernatorial stint in Jharkhand,” the Bihar CM said. His JDU has 21 MPs and 5 MLAs in three states — Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. With 16 members in the Lok Sabha, the JDU is the largest ally of the NDA at the Centre.

Two prominent Dalit leaders from Bihar — former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan — also extended support to Murmu, a former minister in Odisha's BJP-BJD government during 2000-04.

Murmu may get more votes from the Northeast state assemblies – in four of the states, the tribal community has 68-95% share in population.


Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP, which has 45,800 votes, is also likely to support Murmu who was the first woman governor of Jharkhand, and also the first to complete the five-year tenure.

Opposition disunity

Now with Murmu in the contest, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, whose JMM was party to announcing Sinha as the opposition candidate, said he would be reconsidering his decision. Like Murmu, Soren is also a Santhal and has deep family connections with Mayurbhanj, her home district.

Like Jharkhand, another opposition-ruled state, Chhattisgarh has a huge tribal population, comprising over 30% of it. The Congress MLAs would find it difficult to vote against Murmu for the candidate proposed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

If Murmu is elected, the 64-year-old will not only be the first person from the tribal community to occupy the top constitutional post, but also become the youngest President of India. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy had become the President at the age of 64 years and two months. But Murmu would be a month younger than Reddy if she wins the election next month.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.