BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have seized the political opportunity over the candidature of Droupadi Murmu in the presidential election, leaving the State BJP gaping.The astute steps taken by the Chief Minister one after the other, immediately after the announcement of the senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand Governor as NDA’s presidential candidate, to the extent of owning her nomination has pushed the saffron party in the State to the backfoot, and even floundering for a response.
Naveen, who is away in Rome on a 10-day foreign tour, on Sunday spoke to Murmu and assured her of doing everything to get every vote from Odisha in her favour.“Spoke to Smt Droupadi Murmu ji and wished her all the very best for Presidential Election. Her candidature is indeed a proud moment for people of Odisha. I have reiterated that we will work towards getting every vote from Odisha, in her favour,” he tweeted before departing from Rome to Dubai.
Naveen was the among the first to congratulate Murmu immediately after announcement of her name as the presidential candidate. He had called her the “daughter of Odisha” and called upon every legislator of the State cutting across party lines to support her.The Chief Minister deputed two of his Cabinet ministers to New Delhi to be present during the filing of nomination papers and be her proposers. Besides, he also deputed Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra to meet Murmu on behalf of BJD and assured her of all support.
The BJD has 113 members including the Speaker in 147 member Assembly. While BJP has 22 members, Congress has nine. CPM has one MLA while there is one independent. As many as 137 MLAs except nine from Congress and one CPM will vote for the NDA presidential candidate.
According to political observers, Naveen’s moves are aimed at making a dent in the tribal vote bank of the BJP. The tribals constitute a substantial chunk of Odisha’s population, and the BJP has been traditionally strong in the regions dominated by them. The tribal belts of northern, western and southern Odisha have been BJP strongholds.
“The impact of the strong backing of the BJD to Murmu, who is set to be the first tribal woman to become President of India, will be surely felt in the tribal areas. For the commoners, Murmu virtually is the candidate of BJD. The BJP which should have garnered credit for such a huge step is now nowhere in the picture in the State,” said an analyst.
BJP has a solid base in Mayurbhanj, the home district of Murmu. She had been elected consecutively from Rairangpur Assembly constituency twice in 2000 and 2004 and was a Minister of State in the Naveen Patnaik government for four years.
Besides, the candidature of Murmu has also brought to the fore the issue of women empowerment. The BJD is also not prepared to yield any space to the BJP over this as it is one of the main ideological plank of the regional outfit in Odisha.