Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Backs Droupadi Murmu For President, Latest Non-NDA Party On List
NDTV
If elected, which all but done as the BJP-led NDA has the numbers, Droupadi Murmu will be the first woman from a tribal community to be President of India.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has joined the list of non-NDA parties that have declared support for NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu — citing her tribal identity — for the July 18 Presidential elections. Led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the JMM runs the government in Jharkhand — where 26 per cent of the population is tribal — in partnership with the Congress. Ms Murmu, who is from Odisha, has been Governor of Jharkhand too.
If elected — all but done as the BJP-led NDA has the numbers — Ms Murmu will be the first woman from a tribal community to be President of India. The BJP already has its celebration plans in place for July 21, the result day.
The "joint opposition" candidate, Yashwant Sinha, stands further weakened now. Mr Sinha — a former union minister who had a long stint with the BJP before a fallout some years ago — had been declared as a candidate before the BJP announced Ms Murmu's name. That changed equations, particularly in states that have significant tribal populations.
