CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY: Two days after the visit of opposition parties’ common candidate for the presidential election, Yashwant Sinha, BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu will visit Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Saturday to drum up support for her candidature among the elected representatives of the AIADMK-led alliance partners in TN and AINRC-led alliance partners in Puducherry.
According to sources, Murmu will be in Chennai between 3 and 5 pm on Saturday. During her stay in the city, she would meet the leaders and elected representatives of AIADMK-led alliance partners, including the PMK, the BJP, and the TMC, at a hotel in the city.
She would later fly to Puducherry to meet the UT’s Chief Minister and AINRC president N Rangasamy, ministers and MLAs of both the AINRC and the BJP, and a few independent members at a hotel in Puducherry. While the BJP has extended an invitation to three independent MLAs supporting the BJP, it’s unsure about another three who are supporting the AINRC.
As for the strength of the alliance partners, the AIADMK has 66 MLAs, 4 Rajya Sabha MPs, and 1 Lok Sabha MP, the PMK has 5 MLAs and 1 Rajya Sabha MP, the BJP has 4 MLAs, TMC (Moopanar) has 1 Rajya Sabha MP. Among the 30 elected MLAs in Puducherry, the AINRC has 10, the BJP 6, and independents 6. All of them support Murmu.