Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday backed Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
Addressing a press conference, Mayawati said, “The BSP has decided to extend support to Droupadi Murmu in the coming presidential elections, keeping in mind the Adivasi samaj is an important part of the party’s movement.”
“This decision was taken not to support the BJP or NDA nor to go against the opposition UPA, but keeping in mind our party and its movement for making a capable and dedicated Adivasi woman the president of the country,” the BSP boss and ex-Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
The BSP chief further said that she was not invited to the meeting chaired by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to elect an opposition candidate for the Presidential election.
“Mamata Banerjee invited only selected parties in the meeting she called on June 15 to elect an opposition candidate for the Presidential election and when Sharad Pawar called a meeting on June 21, then also BSP was not invited. It shows their casteism motives,” she added.
This comes after, Murmu on Friday spoke to Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
According to the sources, Mamata did not make any commitment to Murmu but wished her all the best for the election.
BJP president JP Nadda also spoke to Sonia Gandhi and HD Deve Gowda for unanimous support for the NDA’s presidential candidate in the upcoming election, according to sources.
On the other hand, Yashwant Sinha has been nominated as the presidential candidate of the opposition.
Meanwhile, Draupadi Murmu filed her nomination papers at the Parliament Library Building in the national capital on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed her name for the nomination, which was seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The second set of proposers were the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, the third proposers were MLAs and MPs from Himachal and Haryana and the fourth set were MLAs and MPs from Gujarat.
Droupadi Murmu, who was declared BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate, is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country’s second female President.
Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. She continues to break barriers and was the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She served as Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021. (With inputs from ANI)
