NEW DELHI: After hectic deliberations, the BJP central leadership on Tuesday picked Draupadi Murmu as the NDA’s candidate for the upcoming presidential elections 2022 which will be held on July 18. Murmu, a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister, is pitted against the opposition’s joint candidate Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP leader and a former Union minister who quit the saffron party several years ago after being apparently sidelined.


How is BJP placed in the electoral college?


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The Narendra Modi-powered BJP is comfortably placed in the electoral college with a vote value of 10.86 lakh although it lacks nearly 2 per cent of votes for a majority. 


BJP central leadership looks confident that it would get adequate support from parties like BJD led by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, especially in view of the fact that Murmu hails from the state, and YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress. This way, the ruling BJP will be able to easily bridge the narrow gap in the electoral college, ensuring a comfortable victory for its presidential nominee.


Why did BJP choose Murmu?


 


Murmu's selection as the presidential candidate is being viewed as a calculated move by the ruling BJP, which is likely to benefit the saffron party in the Assembly elections in Gujarat. It is also in line with NDA's thought process which picked Ramnath Kovind – a Dalit - as its Presidential face in 2017. Kovind, who hails from a small Koli community in Uttar Pradesh, was born in a poor farmer’s house and eventually became India's second Dalit President.


By picking Murmu, the BJP is also likely to enhance its presence in the tribal belt of the country, in states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where there is a large number of tribal voters. According to political experts, Murmu has a comparatively higher chance of being elected as President than Yashwant Sinha considering that she is a woman and comes from a humble tribal background and possesses enough political experience.


If elected, Murmu will become the first tribal president of India and the second woman president in the country.


Draupadi Murmu – brief political profile


 


Draupadi 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.


Coming from a poor tribal family in the village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur. Born on June 20, 1958, she pursued BA at Ramadevi Women`s College Bhubaneswar.


She started her political career as Rairangpur NAC vice-chairman. Murmu was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur between 2000 and 2004. As a minister, she held portfolios of Transport and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. She again served as MLA in the Odisha assembly from 2004 to 2009. In 2007, the Odisha assembly honoured her with `Nilakantha Award` for best MLA. 


She served as a junior assistant in Irrigation and Power Department between 1979 and 1983. She has held several organisational posts in BJP and was vice president state ST Morcha in 1997. Murmu was a national executive member of BJP`s ST Morcha from 2013 to 2015 and served as BJP district chief of Mayurbhanj (West) in 2010 and 2013. 


Between 2006 and 2009, she was chief of BJP`s ST Morcha in Odisha. She was a member of the national executive of BJP ST Morcha from 2002 to 2009. 


Yashwant Sinha- a veteran in politics


 


84-year-old Yashwant Sinha, who quit BJP after being apparently sidelined, was a minister of finance between (1990–1991) when PM Chandra Shekhar was in office. He was again the minister of finance in between March 1998 – July 2002 under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was the Minister of External Affairs between July 2002 – May 2004. 


He joined All India Trinamool Congress on March 13, 2021, He finally left All India Trinamool Congress on June 21, 2022, for being the joint opposition Presidential Candidate. Sinha was an IAS officer, he joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1960 and spent over 24 years holding important posts during his service tenure.