A day before the election for the country’s president, the National Democratic Alliance’s nominee Droupadi Murmu met Gujarat BJP MLAs here on Sunday to seek support for her candidature.
Earlier, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP chief CR Paatil received Murmu on her arrival at the Ahmedabad airport. Murmu later interacted with the state BJP legislators at the Narayani Heights Hotel in Ahmedabad city.
The meeting was earlier supposed to be held at Kevadia near the Statue of Unity in Narmada district on Wednesday, but was postponed due to heavy rains in the region.
”All 111 BJP MLAs from Gujarat (in the 182-member Assembly) will vote for Murmu, we believe this and the MLAs have also assured this. Legislators from other parties can also vote for her. We even request them to vote for her,” state minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters after the meeting.
He said Murmu is a towering example of women empowerment and the BJP’s approach to take all communities together. The BJP is confident that Murmu will win the election with largest number of votes ever cast for a president, Trivedi said.
Chief Minister Patel conveyed best wishes to Murmu and Union minister Bharti Pawar, who was also present in the meeting, informed the MLAs about Murmu’s achievements, her contribution to the party and the tribal community, he said.
”Murmu met her voters warmly and interacted with them. After a group photograph with MLAs from the Scheduled Tribes, she herself suggested having a group picture with all the MLAs present in the meeting,” Trivedi said.
”Despite being short of time, Murmuji came to meet her voters a day before the election,” the minister said, after the NDA’s nominee left for New Delhi along with state BJP president and Lok Sabha member C R Paatil.
Some MLAs said they were happy to have a woman candidate from a tribal community as the NDA’s presidential candidate and will ensure she wins with a huge majority.
”I believe it is a matter of pride for all of us…All the BJP MLAs from Gujarat are excited to have a woman candidate from the tribal community as the NDA’s presidential poll nominee. They will vote to ensure she wins with a huge majority,” former chief minister Vijay Rupani said.
The election to the country’s top constitutional post will be held on Monday and lawmakers from the state are being guided about the voting process.
The Opposition’s presidential poll nominee Yashwant Sinha visited Gujarat on July 8 as part of his campaign to seek support of the Congress MLAs.
Murmu had earlier served as the governor of Jharkhand. If elected, she will be the first tribal woman to hold the top constitutional office.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
