New Delhi: Former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu was declared NDA’s candidate for upcoming presidential elections. The decision to field Droupadi Murmu, the tribal leader from Odisha as presidential candidate of the country’s ruling alliance was taken at BJP’s parliamentary board meeting.
BJP announced the name of Droupadi Murmu after a group of political parties declared the Trinamool Congress leader and former Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government Yashwant Sinha as their common candidate for the upcoming presidential polls. Hailing from Mayurbhanj district, Murmu started her political career in 1997 as a councillor and vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur civic body. Murmu was elected as BJP MLA twice from Rairangur constituency in Mayurbhanj. In 2015 she was appointed as first woman governor of Jharkhand.
CVoter IndiaTracker conducted a nationwide survey for IANS a day after Murmu’s name was announced as NDA’s candidate for presidential polls to know public opinion about BJP’s decision. During the survey, while a large proportion of respondents – 56 per cent opined that it was a genuine gesture by the ruling party for the upliftment of the marginalised community to which Murmu belongs, 44 per cent of those who participated in the survey believe that it is mere political messaging.
Notably, during the survey while the majority of NDA voters – 66 per cent said that BJP has named Murmu as NDA’s presidential candidate with positive intentions, views of opposition supporters were divided on the issue. As per the survey data, while 50 per cent of opposition voters opined that it is BJP’s genuine gesture for disadvantaged tribal community, another 50 per cent of the respondents from the camp said that the decision is all about just the political messaging.
During the survey, while the majority of respondents from most of the social groups said that BJP has declared as NDA’s presidential candidate with genuine motive, majority of Muslims did not share the sentiment. According to the survey data, 60 per cent Upper Caste Hindus (UCH), 61 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC), 73 per cent Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 55 per cent Scheduled Caste (SC) voters view the BJP’s decision to field Murmu for presidential polls as genuine gesture for the marginalised tribal community. At the same time, survey data revealed that 60 per cent Muslims believe that Murmu’s name has been declared by the ruling coalition just for political messaging.
IANS