BSP Chief Mayawati supports Murmu, says wasn't called to opposition meets

Lucknow/New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday extended support to the NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, saying tribals form an integral part of the BSP's movement.

However, even while she said that her decision was not to support the NDA or to oppose the UPA or the Opposition, she made her resentment against the Opposition known by expressing she was not called for any of the meetings held to decide their presidential candidate. Mayawati, however, also added a rider to her announcement, saying "only time will tell whether she (Murmu) is able to work freely and without pressure or not".

The BSP chief's decision adds to the likelihood of Murmu becoming the next president, with numbers already heavily stacked in favour of the NDA. BSP has 10 MPs in Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha.


"Considering the tribal community an essential part of the BSP movement, we have decided to lend support to Draupadi Murmu as the presidential candidate," she said. "We have taken this decision not to be in favour of the BJP or the NDA, nor to oppose the UPA or Opposition parties, but only considering our party and movement to make an able and hardworking woman of the tribal community the president of the nation."

JMM meeting on candidate inconclusive
The meeting called by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president Shibu Soren on presidential elections remained inconclusive. The party MPs and MLAs will meet again to decide whether to support BJP-led NDA's presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu, a tribal.

Though JMM had attended the meeting of Opposition parties earlier this week and vouched its support to the consensus candidate Yashwant Sinha, the regional political party of the tribal state cannot be seen opposing Murmu. After the two hour long meeting, JMM leader and state minister Mithilesh Thakur said, "We discussed various issues of national importance. No final decision was taken on who to support. The party MPs and MLAs will meet once again and then a final decision will be taken."