Giving a further boost to the presidential nominee of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Draupadi Murmu, BSP supremo Mayawati on Saturday extended her party’s support to Murmu, giving her a decisive edge over the Opposition candidate and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
Murmu is also expected to gain support from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is under pressure to break ranks from the Opposition and back a tribal leader.
Murmu, a Santhal tribal leader herself, also called up the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking his support for her candidature, sources said.
JMM — a constituent of the Congress-led UPA — is in power in Jharkhand in alliance with it. A meeting of JMM parliamentarians and legislators was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of party supremo Shibu Soren, sources said. The Chief Minister will soon visit New Delhi and meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah before the party takes a final call on support to Murmu.
“We have some grievances to be discussed with him. Thereafter, we will take decision on supporting a presidential candidate,” JMM MLA Nalin Soren told reporters after the meeting.
Party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said various issues, including the presidential election and the political situation in the country were discussed in the meeting. “The decision in regard with extending support to a presidential candidate has not been taken yet. When the time comes, we will declare it,” Bhattacharya told PTI.
However, well-placed sources said that JMM will finally have no option but to support Murmu. Other Regional parties like the JD(U), the BJD, the YSR Congress have already extended support to the NDA pick.
The BSP’s backing to Murmu has further brightened her winning prospect vis-a-vis Sinha as the BJP is still making effort for an unopposed victory for its NDA nominee.
Speaking to reporters at Lucknow, Mayawati, while clarifying that her party’s decision to support Murmu is not a support to the BJP, attacked the Opposition for “ignoring” the BSP while deciding on its candidate for the presidential polls. “Our decision is neither in support to the BJP nor against the opposition......it has been taken after having kept in view the ideology of the BSP, which is to support the dalits and tribals,’’ she said.
“Development of the tribals is an integral part of our party’s movement.The decision to support Murmu is just the part of that movement,’’ the BSP chief said.
Mayawati also lashed out at the opposition parties for, what she said, keeping BSP aside while deliberating on their candidate for the upcoming presidential poll.
“BSP was kept away from all opposition meetings held to discuss a joint candidate for the post of President, which shows their casteist mentality,’’ she said.
“BSP does not believe in blindly following the other parties....we take decisions after keeping in view the ideology of our party,’’ she said.
Uttar Pradesh plays a crucial role in the election of the president as it sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and 31 to Rajya Sabha. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has 403 members. Of the total value of votes in the electoral college, Uttar Pradesh’s share is 14.86 percent.