BHUBANESWAR: As rightly speculated that the selection of former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu as NDA's presidential candidate would divide opposition votes, the BJD went one step ahead by sending two of its Ministers to attend the nomination event.
BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is on a 10-day foreign tour, said two ministers of the State Cabinet will sign nomination papers of Murmu and remain present during the filing of nomination at New Delhi on Friday.
Informing this on social media on Thursday, Naveen said he has sent Minister for Law, ST and SC Development, Minorities and Backward Class Welfare Jagannath Saraka and Minister for Water Resources, Commerce and Transport Tukuni Sahu to be present at the time of filing of nomination papers after BJP president JP Nadda spoke to him about the nomination of Murmu.
"BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji spoke to me about the filing of nomination of Smt #DraupadiMurmu ji for #PresidentElection. My cabinet colleagues Shri @saraka_fan and Smt @TukuniSahu will sign nomination papers today and attend the event tomorrow. #OdishaLeads," tweeted Naveen.
The BJD is the first non-NDA party to extend its support to "daughter of the soil" Droupadi Murmu who is set to become the next President of India. A day after NDA announced its presidential candidate, Odisha Chief Minister had appealed all members of the legislative assembly cutting across party lines to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of Odisha to the country's highest office. BJD' support has ensured around 52 per cent of the first preference votes for the NDA candidate.
The Odisha BJP has also decided to send 10 of its MLAs to attend the nomination filing event. The legislators will leave for the national Capital on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Murmu was given a rousing reception at Biju Patnaik International Airport amid tight security as she left for New Delhi to file her nomination papers. Tribal dance was performed and hundreds of her supporters greeted her at the airport.